Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny
by Lord Lugos
Summary: YR1CMPLT, Harry suffers at the hands of the Dursleys. Rescued by Hagrid, he rebuilds his life as a wizard. He lets the sorting hat put him in Slytherin, and slowly begins walking the line between good and evil, dark and light.
1. The Final Straw

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

My first Harry Potter fic, hope you like it, many thanks to my story editor for her help in getting this out.

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 1 "The Final Straw"**

A birthday was always a special time in a child's life, well, it was for most children. But Harry Potter was different. Actually, it would be more accurate to say he was treated different. He lived with his Aunt and Uncle and their brat. He had no choice in the matter, as they had taken him in after his parents died. They always treated him like something that should be scraped off their shoes. Today, he had promised himself things would change. If he must live with this treatment, he would finally know why. They would have to justify their actions to him if they expected him to tolerate one more day of this abuse.

"Why didn't you just send me to an orphanage!" Harry yelled at his uncle Vernon. Harry couldn't understand why his aunt, uncle and cousin hated him so. If they didn't want him around why did they take him in when his parents were killed in the car crash?

Harry wasn't always fighting with his relatives, but sometimes it became too much for him to take. At seven years old, Harry was small for his age, so he tried to not cause trouble, although sometimes he just had to try and stand up for himself, even if unsuccessful.

His cousin had just walked up to Harry for no reason and punched him in the gut, knocking him to the ground right in front of his aunt and uncle.

"Good boy Dudley, put people in their place and they will learn to respect you," Uncle Vernon had said causing Harry to ask why.

Harry never did learn, he refused, he knew he never did anything to deserve what happened to him. Not even the weird things that sometimes happen around him should warrant this sort of treatment. There were times like this one when he had to speak out. On the verge of tears, he asked the one question he always wondered but was afraid to ask.

"Why?" Harry yelled again.

"It was your Aunt Petunia's idea," Vernon yelled back. "A FRIEND of your mothers requested we take you in, I still don't know why, but if I had known what a troublesome little brat you were going to be I would have said ABSOLUTELY NOT."

"Troublesome?" Harry yelled back as he started to sob, "When have I ever been trouble? I do all the chores around here while Dudley sits on his fat arse. Because of him I can't have any friends at school. Because he needs a second bedroom for all the junk he breaks, I'm crammed into the cupboard under the stairs. I never get any new clothes like the other kids, always hand-me-downs. The cat next door even gets more to eat than me!"

Vernon had started to turn red and curled up his large fist with anger. Without even realizing what he was doing, Uncle Vernon backhanded Harry. The boy still sitting on the floor, he had no way to balance himself and he ended up hitting is head on the hardwood floor. Harry was stunned if not a little dazed. Vernon had never hit him before, he slapped him around but never actually hit him. Vernon stood there for a minute, white as a sheet, jaw gapping at what he had done. He pulled himself together, burying any sympathy for Harry. Vernon allowed his anger to well up again. "Next time remember your place here and be quiet!" He poked at Harry's chest with a fat finger as he spoke then stomped off.

The enormousness of his situation was so much that Harry really started to cry then. No boy his age or any age should go through this and he didn't know what to do. He looked to his aunt who appeared shocked, but she just quickly turned away without a word, which made Harry cry harder. His mother's sister wouldn't even help him. He had heard that blood was supposed to mean something but apparently not for him. Well, for the first time Uncle Vernon had given Harry something on his birthday. Now all he could think of was finding a way to give it back.


	2. The Letter

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 2 "The Letter"**

Harry was going to be eleven years old soon, and he would be changing schools. A momentous time for most children. In Harry's case, he couldn't think of anyone who would care. Certainly no one he lived with.

He and his uncle had locked horns many times over the years. Vernon had been worse since Harry's seventh birthday. Something had snapped in his uncle that day, Vernon had never completely regained control of his temper with Harry. As he got older their confrontations were less frequent, but this was only because Harry started to hold it in, crying himself to sleep in that little cupboard nearly every night.

Since that day he wondered where was this friend of his mother's? Why hadn't this person checked on him? If this person was a true friend they would have cared enough to see how he was doing. Was this person even still alive? For a long time Harry wondered why the teachers at school hadn't done something. He knew they saw some of what was going on but they turned a blind eye. How much influence did Uncle Vernon really have?

"Fetch the mail or you'll hurt for a week," Vernon told Harry. Harry was nothing more than a slave to these people. He had often thought about taking his own life, but an image of his mother and father would always come to mind at these times when he was the saddest. He knew they would be disappointed in him if he did that. He didn't even know how he new the images were his parents as he had no pictures, but he just knew. His mother had the most beautiful green eyes, just like his, and his father had the same messy dark hair, just like his. It was more than just similar physical attributes that made him know these were his parents. He could feel like they were reaching to him from the next life, and it would always lift his spirits, as well as make him sad in a different way because he missed his parents. He missed them even though he never really knew them. Each time it happened, Harry would get a little more determined to get away from this life, hold it in and get through. He knew he was meant for better things. He was going to make it, not just for his parents, they were his inspiration, but for himself, he wanted a better life, he deserved a better life, he would have a better life, just never give up. If he gave up then the Dursley's would win and his spirit would be broken. His spirit was the only thing he owned, the only thing they hadn't taken away from him.

Pulling himself back to the painfully real world, Harry looked down at the mail. He stared wide eyed at the thick parchment envelope with his name and cupboard on it. He shook his head and looked at the letter again. It was his name, was this a dream? Then a thought struck him. Perhaps this was from the missing friend of his mother's.

Dudley saw it though and snatched it out of his hands saying, "What are you looking at? This can't belong to you. Wait, how did your name get on this?"

Vernon grabbed it quick, looking at it with a startled expression. His Aunt Petunia stared at the envelope dropping her fork into her breakfast. They exchanged glances and Vernon promptly tore the envelope and its contents to bits.

"What the hell are you doing? That letter was addressed to me, it even had my little hole in the wall listed on it," Harry exclaimed.

"How many times have I told you not to talk to us like that you little BASTARD," Vernon yelled, grabbing Harry by the collar an slamming him against the kitchen wall.

"No Vernon, not after this!" Petunia said, glancing at the scraps of the letter on the table.

The vain throbbed on Vernon's temple, his eyes bulged. Harry wondered if he had taunted his Uncle into yet another beating, or would Vernon explode first. Time slowed as he was thrown into his closet. He hit the wall hard and the shelves and canned goods rained down on his head. The door slammed shut.

"Remember your place little boy," Vernon growled through gritted teeth. "It is only by my kindness that you have a roof over your head."

Harry heard the lock on the outside of the cupboard door slam into place. At least his Uncle would be leaving him alone for a while. It would be hours until the door was opened again.

Harry crawled out from the heavy pile. The room spun a little. He had better clean up this mess before any one saw, or this would be his fault too. He lifted the shelves back in place. With the final shelf, there was a sharp pain in his left fore arm and he nearly dropped it. He bit his lip, trying to fight back the tears from pain, then stiffened his legs to physically manifest his resolve. His right ankle gave way. Harry fell into a heap on the floor, tears rolling down his checks, trying to swallow his whimpers of pain. This time Uncle Vernon would not see how badly he was hurt. Harry would find a way to brace the injuries himself. He would hide it in the over sized hand me down clothes he wore. The thought kept ringing in his head, his uncle must not know.

Harry was grateful that he was a quick healer, but the scars were there, internal as well as external. But Harry was unable to do anything like attempt to retrieve the letters that kept being sent for several days.

It was Sunday and Harry could get around without too much trouble and was back to his chores when all hell broke loose. Apparently this friend of his mother's had finally realised he wasn't getting the letter. Harry was going to give this person a piece of his mind for waiting so long to check on him. He just had to find away to get one of those letters.

Some how he didn't think it odd the letters flying everywhere and the owls outside that seemed to be delivering them, on the contrary, it made him feel more normal, that the weird things that happened around him maybe weren't so weird after all. Harry finally was able to grab one of the flying letters and started to run when Vernon grabbed the letter away. He balled up his fist without thinking and started to swing at the boy. Petunia caught his eye and Vernon stopped in mid swing. "That's it! We are getting away from these damn letters!"

Harry was thrown into the back of the car and hit his head on the door while everyone else grabbed a few things. Vernon raced out of the driveway, nearly hitting a brown tabby cat. He sped away not bothering to check if the door was locked, very unlike Uncle Vernon.


	3. The Rescue

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_Thanks so much for the reviews, My story editor was finally able to give a little depth to chapter 3 and I just got done tweaking her edit, so I am now reposting chapter three. ;I have roughed drafts up to chap 10 and I will post as soon as I am happy with the edits, This is my first fic, but I'm told I am learning quickly so the edits should become less and less. Thanks M. Wrenn,(my story editor/idea to page translator) for your help. _

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 3 "The Rescue"**

Vernon drove many miles switching directions often. They finally ended up in a small hut on a rock in the middle of the sea.

Harry lay on the dusty floor gently sobbing as he watched Dudley's watch tick away to midnight when he would be eleven. Beep Beep.

"Happy birthday to me," Harry sobbed to himself.

BANG. Harry jumped up. BANG again. Something was trying to knock the door from its frame. Dudley could sleep through anything. Harry hid as Vernon and Petunia came from the bedroom just as another BANG sounded. This time the door hit the floor. In walked a person too big to be allowed with long hair and big bushy beard. Dudley finally woke up with the last bang and had scrambled over to his parents when he saw the man.

The large man looked around and saw Harry James Potter hiding behind a table sobbing quietly.

He walked over and said "Well hullo there Harry."

He reached a hand as large as a dust bin out to Harry who flinched and brought his hands up to protect himself from being hit. The gentle giant looked startled at Harry's reaction.

He looked at Vernon sternly and boomed out, "What have you done to Harry?"

"Who are you and what business of it is yours?" Vernon puffed up defiantly.

"Answer my question little man," the giant growled, resembling nothing so much as a mother grizzly guarding a frightened cub.

"Just a little deserved discipline," Vernon said, his voice warbling a bit.

"We'll just see about that," replied the big man who turned his gaze back to Harry and said gently, "my names Hagrid, its okay, come with me and I'll look after ya, everything will be alright." He held out his large hand again.

Harry looked into the big man's eyes and instinctively knew he could trust him and took his hand. Harry inched his sore body forward.

Hagrid took this for fear on the boy's part. The giants eyes started to tear up a bit with concern and empathy, "I'm from Hogwart's, Dumbledore sent me. He's a friend of your parents." Hagrid gently pulled Harry to his feet.

Harry's leg was still sore, so as he began to limp forward, his steps faltered and he fell.

Vernon laughed. "Serves the little brat right," he mumbled, followed by a much louder, "tell that crackpot old fool he should have kept him."

Hagrid exhaled sharply, and slowly turned to face uncle Vernon. "NEVER INSULT DUMBLEDORE IN FRONT OF ME," he said in a low paced voice that sounded even more dangerous then his growl. He quickly pulled a pink umbrella from his voluminous coat then pointed it at Vernon. An orange spark flew out and hit Vernon in the face causing his nose to upturn. The nose change some how made him look even more piggy than before.

All three Dursley's screamed and ran into the bedroom and slammed the door.

Hagrid then knelt down and picked up Harry with extraordinary gentleness, afraid he might break Harry. He held the boy the same way he had ten years ago when he first brought him to the Dursley's. He gently brushed away the tears. "Don't worry now, little one. Nothing and no one will harm you while I'm here."

Harry drifted off to sleep in the giant's arms. It was the first peaceful, dreamless sleep he had experienced in years.

Harry awoke hours later to the rocking of the rowboat Vernon had used to get them to the little hut.

"Sorry Harry," Hagrid said, "I tried to row as gently as I could. Would've used magick, but, strictly speaking, I ain't aloud to do magick aside from gettin ya, so if ya could, don mention wha I did to Dursley."

At that thought Harry smiled the first smile he could remember since maybe he was real little. "Magick?" Harry asked groggily, then thought about what happened in the hut. "Is that what happened to Uncle Vernon's nose? I thought I was seeing things."

Hagrid laughed loud, then stopped when he saw Harry jump. Hagrid mumbled a sheepish apology.

Then Harry noticed that this was the same boat the Dursley's used to get out to the hut on the rock. "Er, Hargrid is it? Isn't this the boat the Dursley's used to get out there? How will they get back to shore?"

Hagrid stopped rowing, "It's Hagrid, Rubeus Hagrid, but everyone just calls me Hagrid, and yeah, its the same boat, I figure the guy that rented them the hut and boat will find 'em soon enough, but, from the way they treated ya, are ya really that concerned if they're stuck out there a day or two?"

"Good point." Harry smiled again.

Hagrid then took out a box from one of the many pockets in his coat and handed it to Harry. "Happy birthday Harry, I baked it myself, words and all."

Harry opened the box to see a chocolate cake with yellow frosting and words saying 'Happy Birthday Harry' in blue letters. Harry was overwhelmed and tears started running down his cheeks. "I never got a birthday cake before, not a cake of any kind for anything. Thank you so much Hagrid, and thanks for getting me out of there, I don't know how much more of them I could take."

"Aw Harry, s'okay, from the looks of things, Dumbledore shoulda had ya outta there long ago."

"Dumbledore? Is he the one who said my aunt and uncle should take me in?"

"Aye' he did, but I think now he mighta made his first mistake with that one."

"Well Hagrid, don't give me a pig nose, but I think I may have words with the so called friend of my mother's who would leave me in that place."

"Now Harry, Dumbledore's a good man, 'e has a kinder heart than any one I know." He saw the sour look on Harry's face. "I don't blame ya one bit, but he has so many things he must do and there is only so many hours in the day. I really think he is being pulled in too many directions. I've never seen Dumbledore make a mistake before, well nothing big. Please don't think ill of him. He's a great man, Harry. I owe him a lot...I owe him everything. If it came down to it, I would die for that man."

Harry thought for a long moment. "Alright Hagrid, if you say so, I'll give this man a chance. But I still wish someone had checked on me."

"Well its gettin light out. I imagine you have no clue about what I'm 'ere about, other than to get you from the Dursley's." Harry gave another nod, so Hagrid continued. "Well Harry, it's like this: you're a wizard, a real goodun I'd wager, once ya train up a little. I work at the school where you'll be goin. I'm keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. School doesn't start till September 1st, but right now we gotta get your school supplies, robes and such."

Harry just sat open mouthed. "A wizard, me? You must be joking, Hagrid. Although...some very strange things have happened around me. This might explain a few things." Harry rubbed his chin. "That would explain an awful lot. Is that why odd stuff happens when I get scared or angry? Uncle Vernon always said there was no such thing as magick. I couldn't even say the word without being beaten." Harry then thought for a moment. "Hagrid, they always said my mum and dad died in a car crash, that's where I was supposed to have got the scar from. I've been lied about that too, haven't?"

Hagrid smiled like a proud uncle. "Aw Harry, you're right about that, but I don think I'm the one to tell ya exactly what happened, 'sides, we best get goin, I imagine you're still quite a bit tired, and we got a lot to do, so you nod off a bit, and I'll get you a room at the Leaky Cauldron before we go shoppin in Diagon Alley. You can sleep peacefully now, things'll be okay."

"One last thing, why couldn't I defend myself from my uncle and Dudley? With the feelings I've had, why are they still able to breath?" Doubt and concern mixed equally on Harry's face.

Hagrid gently pulled the boy's chin until he could look into the bright green eyes. "Harry, you are a far better person then that piece of filth back there. You have higher standards for yourself then that man has ever had in his entire life. You have a kind heart and a good soul. No matter what happens in this life don't ever loose that. You couldn't hurt those two because you wouldn't let yourself become like them." With a gentle touch, the ham sized hand patted Harry's shoulders. "Try to rest now, please."

Harry smiled and leaned into Hagrid and drifted off, feeling safe for the first time in his life.

Hagrid looked down at Harry and smiled, then he took out a quill and parchment and wrote a letter to Dumbledore:

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I got Harry from the Dursley's. They've been beating  
him. It's been going on a long time from the look of  
things. I'm afraid we all missed the snitch on this one,  
Professor. I think you better meet me at the Leaky  
Cauldron with Madam Pomfrey. He was limping badly.  
He's sleepin now, and probably will till I get to the Cauldron.  
I'm afraid I'll have to use a mild disillusionment charm to get  
him to the Cauldron, wouldn't do for the muggles to see a man  
my size carrying a small unconscious boy the two blocks from  
the river. The little boat I'm in should reach the shore soon,  
its 6:30am as I write this, and I expect to be at the Cauldron by 7.

Yours

Hagrid

Hagrid then took a small owl from his pocket and put the letter in its beak and said, "get this to Dumbledore quick little one, our friend here needs his help."

The bird took off flying as hard as it could to deliver the important message.


	4. Recovery Begins

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_This is a new update, just a little tweaking._

Well, spent yesterday at wrenn's house helping move stuff as she helped me do the final edit on some chaps, 4 was actually two ideas so we made it 4 and 5, but they're both ready. Lady smoothie, thanks for the review, I know the answer to those questions, cept, blaise, hadn't thought much about it, as for the other questions, aint sayin yet. and mad eyes, the chapters are getting longer esp 6 which we had to stop editing halfway, got too tired. but after I got home couldnt sleep cause a new idea poped into my head, actually its a continuation of an idea i was already gonna do, only more twisted, so twisted I have to do it, I hope y'all don't hate it, the majority of which will happen about christmas., and Hellfire, I love brains and blunt harry as well which is what this is supposed to be, though I gotta reign it in or harry would become invincible right now and get pushed to the dark side. anyway enough of me babbling.

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 4 "Recovery Begins"**

As Hagrid landed the boat just a little after 7am, he was thankful that the little hut on the rock was not too far from London. Vernon finally did something useful. After picking up the still sleeping Harry and casting a quick disillusionment spell to hide them from prying muggle eyes, he walked the short distance to the Leaky Cauldron.

Juggling the sleeping boy, Hagrid opened the door to a fairly empty Leaky Cauldron. The barkeep looked up from his morning duties. "A little early in the day isn't Hagrid?" he asked before noticing the small boy Hagrid was carrying. "Well bless me, is that?

"Shhh, he's sleeping, and yes it is, Tom," Hagrid whispered. "He's had a rough go of it. You got a room available for him? I sent Dumbledore an owl and I 'spect he should be here soon."

"Yes, of course, this way Hagrid," the barkeep said quietly.

Once in the room Hagrid tried to lay the still sleeping Harry on the bed, but Harry began to stir and started mumbling, "no, Hagrid, don't leave."

"S'okay Harry, we're far from the Dursley's and You-Know-Who hasn't been seen in ten years," Hagrid said.

"You-Know-Who?" asked a puzzled Harry as he sat up rubbing his eyes.

"Er, I'll leave you two then, I'll send up Dumbledore as soon as he gets here Hagrid," Tom said shutting the door.

"Well Harry," Hagrid began as he pulled a chair next to the bed and carefully sat down, "er, I s'pose nows a good a time as any, but where to start," Hagrid said scratching his head. Hagrid sighed, "Well Harry, how much do you know about your parents?"

"Nothing, the Dursley's told me nothing." Harry looked down in a mixture of disgust and anger.

"Well at least that slimy git hasn't filled your head with too many lies." Hagrid took a deep breath. "Your parents were good folks and good friends. You see, years ago there was a wizard who was greedy for power tryin to take over everythin', and they wouldn't bow down to him, 'specially with him destroyin' so many lives. Everyone's afraid still, even of sayin his name, so we just say you-know-who."

"But why should I be scared of someone that hasn't been seen in 10 years..., hold on," Harry paused as something clicked into place in his head. "He killed my parents didn't he?"

Hagrid sighed. "Yes I'm afraid he did Harry. I'm sorry, I really miss 'em." Hagrid sniffled and blew his nose on a very large handkerchief.

Harry looked down in thought. Then without looking up he said in a very determined voice, "I'm sorry Hagrid, but,...I need to know his name."

Hagrid thought for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Well, alright Harry, his name was V..., Vo..."

"Could you write it down?"

"Nah, can't really spell it. Alright, just this once, his name was Voldemort, but still most people don't like hearin' the name, scares 'em, not even his followers would say it, deatheaters they called themselves." Hagrid hung his head and Harry could hear the ragged breathing as the giant choked back tears at the memories of a bad time.

Harry put his hand on Hagrid's arm, "I'm sorry for bringing up bad memories. Could you please go on? I really need to know."

Hagrid sniffled and sat up straighter. "Alright Harry, you're right." Hagrid paused to collect himself then continued. "You have to understand Harry, it was a dark time, you never knew who to trust, he had spies everywhere, and even if folks weren't willin to spy, him and his followers had ways of takin over people's minds. It wasn't just in the wizarding world Harry, even the muggles weren't safe...especially the muggles weren't safe.

"Muggles?" Harry asked a little puzzled.

"That's nonmagic folk," Hagrid continued. "Ya see, him and his followers valued bloodlines, unless your whole family was wizards, they had no use fer ya. Like I said Harry, yer mum and dad were good folk and wouldn't stand for that. There was a handful of us fightin' 'im, and I don know why he picked yer family, just next on his list, I s'pose. Your parents took you and went into hidin' when they heard they were next. I s'pose ya figured out that after he killed them he tried to kill you, that's where ya got yer scar."

Harry sat there stunned, not knowing what to think or feel. Composing himself Harry said, "Hagrid, if he killed all of these people, why am I still alive?"

"I knew you'd ask that. To be honest, no one knows. We don' even know what happened to him that night. When I got there your parents were dead, and I found you in the rubble of the house, untouched 'cept for a gash on your forehead. That's where the killin' curse hit ya, but it musta backfired or somethin'. He hasn't been seen since that night, Some say he died, but those of us that fought him feel that there wasn't enough human in him left to die, but that he was just stripped of his powers. In fact, because you lived and he disappeared, you're kinda famous in the wizarding community."

Harry sat their with wide eyes, unblinking.

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't really mean to lay sommat so heavy on ya like that, after all ya been through. But you did ask and besides, it should be hard for him to do anything without any power, eh?"

After a few minutes of silence, Hagrid asked, "are you alright Harry? I new I shouldn't a told ya, I'm sorry."

Broken out of his stunned expression Harry said "No, it's okay Hagrid, really it is, and you're right, I did ask you and after the Dursley's, a guy that hasn't been seen for ten years doesn't scare me."

Harry smiled and Hagrid smiled back for a moment and then remembered something. "Oh Harry I just remembered, I got sommat for ya. Its a stuffed animal that was mine when I was little."

Harry thought that there could never have been a time when Hagrid was little. Although Harry thought that he was a little old for a teddy bear, he didn't want to hurt the feelings of the man who had rescued him from the Dursley's. Besides, he never had a teddy bear growing up. It might take the some of the sting out of his memories, having something to hold onto for once.

"Now I know ya might be a little old," Hagrid began as he searched through the many pockets of his coat, "but it never hurts to have a little bit o' comfortin' when ya need it, and that's what Norbert was for me. Ah here it is." With that he pulled out a well worn velvety purple dragon that yawned and blinked its eyes as it looked up at Hagrid.

"Norbert, you've been real good for me over the years and I really love you," Hagrid said as stroked the top of the dragons head, "but Harry here needs ya more than me, you alright with that?"

The dragon looked over at Harry and studied him for a moment, then turned back to Hagrid and nodded his head. He gave a little roar and a puff of smoke drifted out of his nose.

"Wow Hagrid, thanks," Harry said as Hagrid handed him the dragon. "He's awesome, but I've never seen a stuffed animal move, is he alive?"

"Muggle toys don't move? Where's the fun in that?"

"This is so cool, I'll take good care of him."

"You're welcome Harry and I know you will."

Harry held Norbert close and the dragon just yawned and went back to sleep, and Harry soon followed him off to dreamland.


	5. Price Of The Mistake

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_this is also a slightly tweaked update. _

_And heres five, told ya it was done too._

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 5 "Price Of The Mistake"**

Hagrid was watching Harry sleep when Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pompfrey walked in. "Hello Hagrid," Dumbledore whispered, "How long has he been asleep?"

"About 15 minutes, but he slept most of the time since I got him from the Dursley's."

"Hagrid, let us retreat to the hall while Poppy examines him, I need more information."

"About time, I can already tell this boy needs medical attention, I'll be sure that he doesn't wake up." Madame Pomfrey said shooing them out.

"I'm surprised to see you parting with Norbert, Hagrid."

"Me too, but Harry's had a rough time and needs him more than me." Hagrid replied.

"Good man Hagrid, now I need to know more about that."

"Well sir, I think that maybe it was a mistake leaving him with the Dursley's."

"Yes, well, the only way for the protection spell to work was to leave him with family, and they were the only family he had."

"With all due respect, Professor, there was no one to protect him from Vernon Dursley."

"It was that bad, then, was it?"

"Yes it was Sir, I've never seen you make a mistake this big."

"Ah yes, well Hagrid, I've never claimed to be perfect, I have made mistakes before just like everyone else, I usually try to not make the same mistake twice, I find I prefer to make new and inventive ones, alas," he sighs, the weight of the world settling on his shoulders, "this time an innocent has paid the price, I would rather that I paid it myself."

"Professor, do you still want me to get the package from Gringott's?" Hagrid asked.

"No Hagrid, I'll go once we've ascertained Harry's status, I know how you hate those cart rides." Dumbledore said with a wide grin.

"You can come in now" Madame Pompfrey said from inside the room. Hagrid and Dumbledore walked in to find a very angry looking healer glaring at Dumbledore.

"Oh dear," Dumbledore said solemnly, "exactly how bad is it Poppy?"

"Well, his leg and arm were broken recently and never set, I was able to fix that easily with magickal casts which will take some time to do their job, after which, they will disappear. I suppose we should all be grateful that he's never had any broken bones before this. Now these," and she held up Harry's shirt showing quite a few small scars and quite a few bruises in differing degrees of healing, "will take some time to fade away, and I imagine the mental scars that would accompany this kind of abuse may never fade completely. He has a slight concussion and is also suffering from malnutrition. I can't believe you put Harry with such people Albus, and more, how could you not check up on him to be sure of his safety?" Poppy said not realizing she was getting a little loud, and Harry had woke up but kept his eyes closed realizing they were talking about him.

Dumbledore was standing there shaking his head. "You're absolutely right, it was a stupid mistake Poppy, one which I'll never forgive myself for. I was only concerned with Voldemort. I thought I could trust Lily's sister to watch out for Harry's basic needs. I should've checked on him. I guess I'm getting too old for this, I just hope I have the strength to see it through."

"Now don't be talkin' like that," Hagrid said, "you're still useful and we still need you."

"What will be, will be my friend, you can't stop the circle of life, things must die for new things to be born. Now I have try to make up it."

"HOW do you expect to make up for this!" Harry said before he could think, startling everyone, even Dumbledore. Harry glanced at Hagrid to see if he'd gone to far. "You were supposed to be my mother's friend, why didn't you check on me." Harry's voice got progressively louder. Harry continued not waiting for Dumbledore to answer his question, "Do you really understand what I went through? Do you have any clue? Every time I asked about my parents, I got slapped, I was never treated as a member of the family, I was their damn servant, do the cooking, do the dishes, do the cleaning. You see this shirt, it was my cousin Dudley's, I've never had anything new in my life." Harry stood up on his bed before Madame Pompfrey could stop him, and glares straight into Dumbledore's eyes. "My uncle encouraged Dudley to use me as a punching bag to practise bullying people, and no one tried to stop it. I may only be eleven, but it seems to me that the so called boy-who-lived might be thought of enough to be checked on to be sure he was alright."

Dumbledore stood there looking very old and worn. "Of course, you're right, I was afraid if I sent anyone to look in on you, they would be followed. That one of Voldemort's people would find a way to finish the job he started. I know that's cold comfort considering what you went through. I never dreamed it was that bad. You have every right to be bitter and to hate me. Nothing I could say could make this any better. Please tell me what I could do to help you now."

"I don't hate you sir, I don't even know you. I just want the hurting to stop. How could relatives treat me like that. Where it really hurts is in here," Harry said as he pointed to his chest, "I don't know what to do, and then I remember my mum and dad from my dreams, and I know that I can make it." Harry said as he started to sob quietly. Then he stopped and got a look of fierce determination in his eyes and said "alright, enough of me blubbering, I need to get out of this funk and this bed and do something more useful. Can we go get my stuff for school. And, since I know nothing of the wizarding world, I would like get a few extra books. Maybe I could look around to experience it a little first hand before I go to school? If this Voldemort disappeared after he tried to kill me, I imagine people will be staring at me. Oh," he added with a little laugh, "and if you really want to help me, maybe you can teach me a few extra tricks that aren't normally taught. I want to be able to defend myself against ole Voldy and his cronies, maybe even uncle Vernon next time he takes swing at me." Harry said the last part with a mischievous smile and a sly twinkle in his sparkling green eyes.

Madame Pompfrey and Hagrid were floored, and Dumbledore stood there, as a smile slowly crept across his face, "Well done Harry, at least they didn't break your spirit." Now it's was Harry's turn to be floored.

Dumbledore looked at Madame Pompfrey. "Well then, Poppy, you can head back, Harry is obviously out of danger. Hagrid you can wait here if you like and I'll take our Harry to Gringott's but then I'll have to get back myself. Can you get help get him situated?"

Harry had expected Dumbledore to at least be a little angry, he was ready for that. But the way Dumbledore handled this immediately earned Harry's respect, also, he liked the way Dumbledore said 'our Harry'. He was beginning to feel the wizarding world, not the muggle world, was really where he belonged.

"Harry, Make sure you get plenty of rest before term starts, I want you healed as much as possible before I see you again. I want you in my office right after the welcoming feast. You need to eat more, you are terribly undernourished." Madame Pompfrey said and then she left.

Hagrid went to go have a cuppa with Tom while Harry and Dumbledore went to Gringott's.


	6. A Day In The Life

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

This is a new update, I tweaked it a little.

Thanks for the reviews, Ya wanted a longer chapter, I give ya a longer chapter. Also many thanks to M. Wrenn for her help editing this story.

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 6 "A Day In The Life..."**

"What is Gringott's?" Harry asked as he strolled wide eyed down the street with Dumbledore.

"Thats the wizards bank Harry. It's where your inheritance is kept, there isn't any place safer than Gringott's, accept the school of course. Its run by goblins, who aren't the most friendly of persons, but they take their job very seriously. The vaults are deep underground, Harry, and we'll be getting there by cart, Hagrid doesn't care for the ride, quite fast actually, but I like it, and I think you'll enjoy it too my boy."

Harry was about to ask about his inheritance when he stopped in front of the quidditch supply store and stared at the Nimbus 2000 on display. So wizards actually flew on brooms. "Wow, can I get one of those Professor Dumbledore sir?" Harry asked as Dumbledore steered him away and toward the bank.

"Perhaps Harry. You'll have time to look around later right now we must keep moving." The Professor had a sly smile on his face that Harry missed in his excitement.

Everything seemed exciting yet vaguely threatening to Harry, so he kept close to Dumbledore as they made their way up to the teller in Gringott's. Goblins definitely made him uneasy. Although small of stature, their spidery, clawed fingers and keen, predatory eyes didn't put one at ease.

Once they were in the cart riding very fast deep underground, all his cares seem to drift away. The little mining cart whipped down the tracks at breakneck speed, sometimes threatening to tilt onto two wheels. The wind played through Harry's hair and he wished the ride would never end. "This must be like the roller coasters I've heard other kids talking about, this is really fun." Harry said to Dumbledore with a wide grin.

"I agree Harry, very fun indeed." Dumbledore was holding tightly to his hat, grinning even more than Harry. The eyes behind his half-moon glasses twinkled with a youthful light that seemed out of place in the craggy, wrinkled face.

All too soon for Harry and Dumbledore too the ride slowed to a stop in front of Harry's vault. Harry barely had a chance to catch his breath while the goblin nimbly leaped from the cart and threw open the vault's door revealing mountains of gold, silver, and bronze coins everywhere. "Thats wizard money Harry, your mum and dad weren't paupers and wanted to make sure you had a means to live in case anything happened." Dumbledore said as he helped Harry by loading a bag with the money.

"It's all mine?" Harry wandered around between the piles. "Can I take enough to get more than just school stuff? I've never had anything of my own and I promise I won't go nuts spending it, I expect I'll be cautious with money as I've never had any."

"Don't worry about it Harry," Dumbledore said with a sly twinkle in his eye as he put several more handfuls of galleons into the bag. "I think there may be a little extra here. Besides, you never know what expenses might come up."

"Thanks Professor." Harry smiled, pulling himself together enough to help load the bag with coins.

As they rode to the next vault Dumbledore explained to Harry all about wizard money as well as conversion to the pound. Harry was always good at math and took to wizard economics very quickly.

When they arrived at the next vault, Harry watched as the goblin slowly stroked the door, hearing the lock mechanisms clicking. As Dumbledore stood away Harry realised that this was indeed a very secure vault, and wondered what rare treasures might lie inside. Harry was therefore puzzled when all that lay inside was a small package wrapped in brown paper. Harry had barely glimpsed it before Dumbledore snatched it up, the package disappearing into the folds of his robes.

Although his curiosity was burning, Harry didn't feel comfortable prying into the Wizard's business.

Just as they were coming out of the bank they met Hagrid. "Ah Hagrid, wonderful timing, I'll leave Harry with you then and I'll be off. Oh Hagrid, I suspect that Harry has the same talent on brooms his father had after the way his eyes lit up at the new Nimbus 2000. Why don't you make sure that he gets one, and as first years aren't suppose to have them at school, I suggest he get a double or triple lock trunk, so I won't officially have to know about this."

After watching the joy on Harry's face, Dumbledore got very sombre. "I'm afraid I have a little bad news Harry, I'm afraid there is still no safer place to hide you until start of term than with the Dursley's. However," the Professor quickly added, "Professor McGonagall, who Tom at the Leaky Cauldron will show to your room, will escort you back tomorrow. I assure you she will have a long talk with Vernon and Petunia. She will also be bringing someone to stay with you to assure that Vernon and Dudley behave, alright? You will come to no further harm there, I wouldn't stand for that. Harry, please understand, there is an old protection spell that will only work against Voldemort and his followers if you are staying with blood relatives. Pity we can't choose our relatives. I'll do everything in my power to make other arrangements for next year, for now I see no other solution, and your survival is paramount."

Harry didn't look too sure and was about to say something when Hagrid spoke up "Don't worry Harry, you can trust Professor Dumbledore, and McGonagall is not a woman to be trifled with. She will definitely put the Dursley's in their place. Alright?"

Harry went over to Hagrid and gave him a hug then looked up and smiled, "Okay, I trust you Hagrid, I won't let myself be afraid. Now lets go get my broom." He started tugging on the giant's hand.

"Ah yes, one more thing," Dumbledore said, "Harry, you may have a broom but you won't be able to use it until after you have flying lessons. You can't let any muggles see it so keep it locked up."

"Yes sir." Hagrid nodded as Dumbledore left.

Harry looked up at Hagrid, "I'm not sure about this going back with the Dursley's."

"It'll be alright Harry, it will, now lets go get your broom."

After they stored the broom at the inn, Hagrid started Harry's whirlwind tour of Diagon Alley.

Hagrid dropped Harry at Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasion's saying, "While you're gettin fitted for robes why don't I go get us some ice cream?"

"Sounds good Hagrid, thanks." Harry said and stepped into the shoppe.

A squat smiling witch dressed in mauve greeted him, "I'm Madame Malkin. Hogwart's dear? Yes, then goto the back. There is another student being fitted up as well."

At the back of the shop standing on a foot stool was a boy with pale ferret-like features. A witch was pinning up his long black robes. Harry stood on a stool next to him as Madame Malkin slid a robe over his head and began fitting it.

"Hullo," said the boy in a drawling voice, "Hogwart's too?" Harry nodded. "My parents are out buying my books, when they get back I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms, I don't care if first years aren't allowed brooms, I think I'll bully father into getting me one anyway and then smuggle it in somehow."

After years with the Dursley's, Harry could easily recognise snobs, and this boy was premium snob. Harry smiled at the fact he would be doing exactly what this boy could only hope to do thereby putting him ahead of the snobs for once. Harry also knew that if there was anytime to keep a low profile it was now. After he did some reading and became more familiar with this fascinating new world, he would gladly give this snobbish boy a piece of his mind, and so Harry became determined to memorize all his school books before term. The boy asked him a few questions, and Harry kept his answers short. No, he didn't have a broom, yet heheh, No he hasn't played quidditch.

"I do" the boy replied, "my father says it would be a crime if I'm not picked for the house team, and I have to agree, know what house you'll be in yet? Well know one knows do they? But I know I'll be in Slytherin, my whole family has been, if I was put in Hufflepuff I would leave, wouldn't you?"

Doesn't ferretface ever shut up? Harry decided this kid was as bad as the Dursley's. He was trying to lose himself in his own thoughts and block the snob out when ferretboy finally said something useful.

"Say isn't that the big oaf that looks after the grounds at Hogwart's?"

Trying to reign in his tongue Harry said, "Yes he is. His _**name**_is Hagrid, and he's my friend. He helped me because my parents are dead. He's a very kind and loyal person, which is more then i can say about you. I suggest you keep your petty little thoughts to yourself before you insult somebody you shouldn't."

"Do you know who you're talking to?" the boy glared.

"No, and frankly I don't really care."

"All through, young man, you may go." Madame Malkin tried to hide her smile and failed utterly. "Your robes will be ready for pickup in an hour."

Harry stepped down from the stool, quickly turning and striding off. He met Hagrid outside with his ice cream.

Hagrid noticed Harry was a little steamed, "Whatsamatter Harry?"

"Hmmm...well...see that white haired snot in there?"

"Oh him," Hagrid groaned.

"He's as bad a snob as the Dursley's! And he wouldn't shut up either." Harry's frustration came pouring out before he could control it, "He had the nerve to bad mouth YOU, Hagrid. I had to say something. I told him to button his mouth before I borrowed a needle and thread and button it for him. I wish he had just kept his inferior ideas to himself. I mean you rescued me Hagrid, and I really care about you. I won't let anybody insult you just because you work for a living."

"Aw thank ya Harry, yer just like your father ya know?" Hagrid said with moist eyes, and he picked Harry up and gave him a hug before starting to walk towards Flourish and Blott's. As he approached the door Harry tapped him on the shoulder.

"Er, Hagrid, I really love being carried like this cause no one ever did before, but I think it best if you put me down. I am eleven after all, and while I enjoy it, my first day in the wizarding world, I want to be on my own feet."

"Right you are Harry, I forgot, never had kids of me own, its kinda nice."

Harry gave Hagrid another big hug, well as big as a smaller than normal eleven year old could give a half giant, before he sat him on his feet.

"I wouldn't say no to holding my hand though, Diagon Alley can be a little intimidating to a kid from the muggle world." Harry said offering his hand which Hagrid gladly took as they walked together into the bookstore.

After they had collected all of the required textbooks, Hagrid and the clerk helped Harry pick out some useful books on wizard history, law, and muggle interaction. Harry also got subscriptions to the Daily Prophet and The Quibbler newspapers. Then once Harry saw how useful a multi-compartment trunk would be he insisted on one of the biggest and best.

"I don' know about that Harry, Dumbledore said maybe a two or three compartment, he might frown on a seven."

Harry looked downcast, as did the clerk who had hoped to make a big sale. After a moment of thought Harry decided to try something new and looked up at Hagrid and flashed him a pout with puppy eyes that would melt Vernon's heart. "Hagrid, I've never had anything, let alone a good anything. This is a long term investment, I expect to be using it well after I'm done at Hogwart's. I should get one of the better models. I mean really, c'mon, I think my parents would want me to have something good to keep my stuff in. It's not like its gonna break me either, please, **_Uncle_** Hagrid?"

"Well, since you put it that way. Me playin' uncle for a day, imagine that. I think I'll spoil ya like any good uncle would."

"Thanks Hagrid." Harry said as he gave him a hug and the clerks eyes were as bright as christmas day as they bought a top of the line trunk. It had seven locks to seven compartments, three of which were complete rooms with steps leading down.

After loading all his stuff into his trunk, they were ready to get Harry's wand. Even with the trunk being enchanted to be very light no matter how much you put into it, Harry still could only barely drag it around so Hagrid carried the trunk in one arm while holding Harry's hand in the other as they walked to Olivander's Wand Shoppe.

They heard a bell ringing from the depths of the shop as they walked in. Hagrid set Harry's trunk down and took a seat on a small, rickety chair that creaked and groaned as his weight settled into it.

There were shelves upon shelves, stacked ceiling to floor, lined with slender boxes of every description and material. Harry looked around in wonder and felt as if he was in a library filled with a tingling magick that seemed to radiate all around.

"Good afternoon," Mr. Olivander said softly causing them both to jump. He melted out of the shadows, looking rather as dusty and antique as many of the boxes on the shelves. "Yes, Mr. Potter, I thought I would be seeing you here soon, you have your mothers eyes. I remember your mother, her wand was willow, ten and a half inches, very good for charm work."

Mr. Olivander walked towards Harry, never blinking his silvery eyes, "But your fathers wand, it was mahogany, eleven inches, pliable, excellent for transfiguration. Yes, yes, the wand always suited to the witch or wizards natural abilities, for, after all, the wand chooses the wizard, of course."

Mr. Olivander was very close now, and ran his finger over Harry's scar, "Yes, I'm sorry to say that I sold the wand that gave you that my boy, I remember every wand I've ever sold, that one, Yew, thirteen and a half inches, very powerful, yes, I suppose it was fate though. Can't change destiny."

He then noticed Hagrid, "Ah Rubeus, Rubeus Hagrid, Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy wasn't it? Pity, they broke it in two when you were expelled didn't they?"

"Ah yes, yes they did, but I kept the pieces...for sentimental reasons of course."

"Of course." Olivander said as he eyed Hagrid's pink umbrella poking out from the inside of his coat.

"Hold out your wand arm" Olivander said as he brought out a tape measure and began to measure Harry in every imaginable way.

Harry instinctively held out his right arm while Olivander went on about the construction of his wands, their uniqueness being of utmost importance as no two wizards are alike, and, of course, you get the best results with your own wand. The tape measure had been moving around by itself. Harry was rapidly getting use to such things as Olivander had been running around gathering boxes and bringing them over. He handed Harry a wand and said "Twelve inch Rowan, unicorn tail center, just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand offered him and waved it but Mr. Olivander grabbed it back and handed him another, then another, and was getting more excited with each wand, then he stopped after twelve wands and thought for a moment.

"Hmmm, I wonder," then he went and got a wand from the highest shelf near the back of the store and brought it to Harry. "Try this one." Olivander said almost slyly.

Harry took it and felt a pleasant warmth come over him like the proud hug of a father, something he had never felt before but longed to feel, then he swished it through the air and sparks flew out the end in red and gold quickly fading to green and silver. Hagrid clapped and Mr. Olivander said "Yes very good...and curious, very curious indeed."

"I'm sorry? whats curious" Harry replied.

"Well Harry, the phoenix who gave your wand it's core only gave two feathers, and I find it curious that it was your wand's brother that gave you that scar." Then he spied Harry's trunk sitting by the door. "Your trunk a bit difficult for you eh Harry, would you like me to show how to transfigure it to fit in your pocket?" Hagrid started to say something but Mr. Olivander quieted him with a quick look. Still, he shifted uncomfortably in the tiny chair, sure this magick would be too advanced for a novice.

"Yes please, could you?" Harry replied hoping to learn some really useful magick quickly.

"Alright Harry, think about it being the size and weight of a small piece of candy and say '**_modulatem incantio_**', and then touch your wand tip to your trunk."

Harry took a deep breath, cleared his mind and focused on the trunk becoming the size and weight of a large gumball, and said quietly, yet forcefully, **_modulatem incantio_**, then touched his wand to the trunk which immediately shrunk down to that size.

Harry was amazed at how good that felt, how natural. Harry looked over to Mr. Olivander, who said "**_modulatem recantio_**", and Harry nodded performing the same actions as before but with the new words and the trunk returned to its normal state.

Hagrid, who nearly fell out of the chair, sat there with his mouth open. Mr. Olivander just said with a small pleased smile, "Yes, I believe we can expect great things from you, Harry, for he-who-must-not-be-named did great things, terrible, yes, but great."

"I don't understand Hagrid" Harry said after he had shrunk his trunk again and put it in his pocket and they were out in the sunshine and fresh air again.

"Thats a sixth year spell Harry. The magick is different than changing an object from one thing to another. Now you'll be learnin' that in first year, but changing size and weight of somethin' without changin anything else about it is advanced magick. Most wizard's can't even manage it till their sixth year, so that's when it's taught."

"Oh, but it was so easy, and it felt so natural Hagrid. I want to do more magick." Harry replied.

"Just be careful Harry, be real careful," Hagrid stopped and looked dead serious at Harry. "Want of power like that is what happened to Vol... , **_HIM_**. You better also change it back before we get to the Leaky Cauldron. Won't do to have people wonderin' where your stuffs at, and what you can do, like you said before, sometimes it's best to keep a low profile. Don't draw attention to yourself if you can help it, you'll get enough of that by just being **_THE_** Harry Potter."

"Gotcha Hagrid, I will make it just a little lighter though so that I can manage it a little better." Harry replied.

"Good boy Harry," Hagrid sighed with relief, but he still looked a bit worried.

They ducked into a dark corner to return the trunk to normal size, then continued down Diagon Alley. "Now for ya birthday present."

"What?" Harry hadn't been watching as Hagrid had led him into the Owl Emporium. "Hagrid, you don't have to do this."

"I know, but ya don't buy presents for ya friends cause ya have to, ya do it cause ya want to. Maybe it's really kinda selfish, cause buyin' sommat for a friend makes ya happy," Now his eye twinkled mischievously, as if Harry didn't dare refuse without spoiling Hagrid's fun. "I want to make us both happy, so I thought I'd get you an animal that you're allowed to take to school. Owls are dead useful, they're real clever, smart, and plus they carry the post."

"So thats why that post office was full of owls. I was going to ask about that." Harry said as he began looking around at all the birds. The shop was filled with soft hoots and coos. Some of the owls were curled up asleep, others preening, a few where flapping their silent wings. A beautiful black and white owl looked at him then flew to his shoulder landing gently.

"What, are owls like wands, choosing their owner, or something?" Harry asked a little shocked when the bird came to him. He tentatively stroked the bird on its back.

"Not really," the clerk said as he approached them, "Although they can be a little finicky, that one a little more finicky than average, but she seems to really like you, you must be of a good heart," the clerk continued and then stopped dead as he stared at Harry's scar. "Oh my, you're Harry Potter, aren't you." Harry slowly nodded, "Well then pleased to meet you." He extended a hand in greeting.

"Likewise" Harry said. The owl clicked it's beak annoyed as Harry shook hands.

"Well I guess we'll take this one," Hagrid said, "I'm gettin' it for his birthday. Its not everyday your young man turns eleven now is it? And He'll be startin' Hogwart's this year too." Hagrid said with so much pride in his voice Harry had to blush a little.

"Well, congratulations, Mr. Potter, she is a beauty. I hope you do well, and have a little fun too." the clerk said.

Hagrid paid for the owl and a nice cage, plus the clerk gave a few owl treats on the house. As they stepped from the shop, a great snowy owl inside let out an indignant hoot.

Harry glanced back at the store and caught his reflection in the window. He walked slowly toward it, taking in the small boy in the oversize clothes. Harry looked down, feeling sorry for himself. 

"What is it Harry?" Hagrid asked with concern.

"I look pathetic."

Hagrid knelt down beside him, "Don't worry Harry, you're a handsome lad, and ya may be small now, but once ya start eatin' better, you'll fill out." "Yeah, hope so" Harry said dejectedly, then got an idea. "Hagrid, I wanna go back to Gringott's to exchange some galleons for muggle money so I can get some clothes and stuff when I get back." "I see no harm in that, Harry. No shame in hand-me-downs, but these look like a tent on you. Are you sure you're the only one in there?" Hagrid started poking at him. Harry was amazed at how those huge fingers seemed to find a way between his ribs. Soon they were both laughing. The sun was sinking low as they came out of Gringott's and started the walk back to the Leaky Cauldron. After they had walked a while Harry stopped and looked up at Hagrid. 

"I'm gettin kinda tired after today, not to mention the healing and all, and I was wonderin if this would be one of the okay times for you to carry me?"

"You betcha Harry, anytime." Hagrid replied as he set the cage down and picked Harry up and settled him with his head leanin' on Hagrid's shoulder, then he picked up the large owl cage and trunk. Then they continued on their way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

By the time they got back to Harry's room he was asleep, so Hagrid laid him gently on the bed.

He'll be hungry when he wakes up, Hagrid thought. I'd better get him some food, muggle food should probably be best. So he walked over to the fireplace, grabbed a pinch of floo powder, and got on his knees. Hagrid tossed the powder into the fire, and said, "McMuggles" then stuck his head into the fire. "Hey there, could I get a cheeseburger Cheery Meal, and send it to room 11 at the Leaky Cauldron? Charge it to Hogwart's, account number 13267? thanks." then pulled out his head. After a few minutes, the fire flared light green for a moment and a bag slid out on a cardboard tray. Hagrid took it over and set it on the night table and sat down in an armchair to snooze a little himself. About a half hour later Harry stirred and sat up rubbing his eyes, he looked over at Hagrid and smiled, watching the big guy trying to sleep in a chair that was a little too small.

"Hagrid?" Harry said quietly.

Hagrid opened his eyes slowly, "Hullo there Harry, feelin' better now?"

"Much better thank you, although I could do with some food, do they have room service here?"

"Yeah, but I ordered out, it's on the table, should still be warm, the tray is enchanted. I need to be gettin back to Hogwart's meself, you be alright Harry? McGonagall will be here first thing in the morning."

"I'll be okay Hagrid, thanks." and Harry got out of bed and went over to Hagrid and gave him a hug, "Thank you so much Hagrid for everything." Harry pulled back and looked up at him, "See you on the first of September?"

"You betcha Harry, you take care alright?" Hagrid said with moist eyes, Harry nodded and Hagrid left.

Harry carried his dinner over to the desk amazed at the little cardboard tray being hot on the bag side, and cold on the drink side. He looked at the name on the bag and wondered, could it be? He had only been to that other restaurant once when he was 5, when Mrs Figg from down the street had looked after him while the Dursley's went to the zoo, it was delicious, he could still remember how it tasted, so he pulled out the cheeseburger and fries, and sure enough, just like he remembered. He practically inhaled the meal thinking his life was definitely turning around.

Harry got up and went to the cage of his new owl and opened the door. She just looked at him oddly. "Well you seem to have chosen me. I figured you wouldn't leave unless you needed to. Besides, if you're a post owl, I imagine you need to come and go as you please anyway." Harry paused and took a long look at the owl. "I don't know what to call you. I figure you and your kind are a lot smarter than humans give credit," and she hooted as if agreeing.

"I have an idea." Then Harry went over to his trunk and pulled out a book on famous wizards and witches and set it open on the floor. "Now I figure you might be able to read English in some way. I think it would be useful in delivering post, so you just flip through the pages and point out a name you would like me to call you."

She hooted again and flew out of the cage and down to the book. She flapped her wings causing the pages to turn and she stopped in the K's. She then brought her head down and poked her beak enough to indent the page without tearing, and Harry looked at the name. "Kleopatra?" Harry asked, the owl then gave a quick clipped hoot, "er, Kleo?" to which she hooted twice and flew to his shoulder. "This is cool" Harry said as he reached up and stroked the top of her head. Harry wondered out loud. "Can most owls read?"

Kleo shook her head. Impressed, Harry let out a low whistle. Most people must have to give explicit instructions to post owls. Then Harry had another thought, now would be the perfect time to test her talents. "Kleo, I need to send a letter to Professor McGonagall. I don't know where she lives, but my Hogwart's letter said she was the deputy headmistress for the school. Can you get the letter to her before she leaves in the morning to come and get me?"

"Hoot hoot" came the reply, she ruffled and stretched her wings. It looked for all the world like warm up exercises.

"Thanks just give me a few minutes to write it Okay?" Harry grabbed a quill, ink, parchment and envelope from his trunk and wrote:

Professor McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress  
Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Dear Professor,

I would like to thank you for being my escort back to the  
Dursley's, and for talking with them to keep me safe. I am  
still a little scared about returning to the Dursley's.  
Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore tell me not to worry, that  
you will take care of everything. I want you to know  
that I deeply appreciate you taking the trouble for me.  
Madame Pompfrey has told me to rest until school, but I'm  
afraid that no matter what you say they will put me back  
to doing all of the chores around the house. I wouldn't  
really mind some chores. I expect that healers can sometimes  
be as over cautious as muggle doctors. Now if my cousin would  
do his part of the chores, which I know he'll never do, this  
wouldn't be a problem.  
But I want to be well enough so that it won't effect my  
studies at school. I truly appreciate ideas you may have.  
Sorry for rambling on, I look forward to meeting you in  
the morning.

Thank you

Harry Potter  
Student

"That should do it," Harry slipped the letter into the envelope and addressed it as best he could. "Now how do I do this?" he asked Kleo, who immediately flew to the trunk and grab a gold string from the pile of envelopes and then flew to the desk. She dropped the string and held out her foot. There was a small gold eyelet in the corner of the envelope so Harry threaded the string through and tied it to the little leather band around her leg.

"Is that good enough to make it?" She wiggled her leg and then hooted twice. "Okay then, thanks Kleo." and she nibbled him affectionately on the hand and flew out the window when Harry opened it.

As he watched her fly out of site he began to feel alone again, all alone. It was nearing 10 pm Harry noticed by the clock on the wall. He never dared stay up this late at the Dursley's. His bedtime was long before Dudley's to stay out of their way, unless he wasn't done with his chores. Harry needed to not be alone, he needed to dream of his parents for sure tonight. He started crying softly as he thought about his parents.

He looked over at the fluffy dragon that Hagrid had given him. "Norbert, is there anything you can do to help make sure I dream about my parents tonight?" Harry asked in a slightly choked voice. The dragon just flapped its fuzzy wings and flew over to Harry's lap and looked up at him and nodded.

"Thank you." was all Harry said as he lay back on the bed and cuddle the dragon as he let his tears and the magick of his little dragon take him to sleep.


	7. A River Runs Through It

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_Well, here is chapter 7, hope you like it. thanks for the reviews, lupis, you made me blush, but I cant take full credit, M. Wrenn really helped to flesh it out and spice it up. In fact she wrote most of McGonagall's speech in this chapter. Alen, tell your friends, everyone, tell your friends, an author loves to be read. I'm starting to combine chapters to keep from being too short, in fact in rough draft this was two chapters. I am learning, hopefully. enough rambling. _

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 7 "A River Runs Through It"**

Harry always slept in only his underwear, as they were the only clothes that fit properly, being Dudley's when he was 5. Harry was able to take good care of them, nobody could even give him a wedgie at school, as if by magick. It was an unusually hot night, so Harry didn't even use a sheet to cover himself as he slept.

When McGonagall walked into his room the next day he was still asleep. Despite Madame Pompfrey's report on his condition, she was still shocked at what she saw, the bruises, the scars, and the magickal casts that were needed to repair his unhealed broken arm and leg. Pompfrey had said the cast should only need to be on for roughly a month. This shook her even more. The injury hadn't been attended to quickly so healing couldn't be sped up much by magick and would need to be left to heal in its own time.

She also saw past all that to the polite angelic looking boy sleeping curled up with a stuffed dragon. There were dried tears on his cheeks and a happy dreamy smile on the face of the boy who wrote her a thank you note the night before. He was so peaceful sleeping there, the little angel who defeated the dark lord, no need to wake him yet. McGonagall had the whole day to get him to the Dursley's. Then she would have a little chat, more like give them a piece of her mind now. She decided to go back down stairs to the pub to socialize a bit and have some breakfast until Harry woke up. She placed a simple ward on the room that would let her know when he was awake before she left.

About an hour later Harry slowly woke up and rubbed his eyes. He felt wonderful this morning. He remembered he'd had a dream about his parents. He just couldn't remember the details at all. There was just a feeling of peace and contentment that wouldn't go away even now as he woke up more, not that he particularly wanted it to go away. This must have been the best sleep he had ever had.

"Thanks Norbert I really needed that." he said to the little dragon who smiled and then took a deep breath and blew a smoke ring that went around Harry's head. The smoke tickled his nose making him laugh hard enough to nearly fall out of bed. Then he looked at the clock on the wall, it was 9:30. He couldn't remember the last time he was allowed to sleep this late.

"I wonder what time Professor McGonagall will get here?" he thought out loud, just as there was a knock on the door.

"Harry? It's Professor McGonagall, may I come in?" she said through the door.

"Sure" Harry said with a bit of puzzlement in his voice.

When she came in and saw he was still in his underwear she blushed and a turned around, "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were dressed."

"Oh sorry, my aunt never asked to come in. She always just came in and has seen my underwear a million times. Guess I gotta get used to, er, non-rudeness." Harry hopped into the his pants and pulled a t-shirt over his head, "Okay, I'm dressed."

She turned around and saw him standing there in clothes that fit so poorly she was amazed he could move in them. Come to think of it, he couldn't do very well in them. She watched him fuss with the voluminous clothing while getting his things into his trunk for a few minutes till she couldn't take any more.

"Harry, hold still for a moment" she said, and when he did, she magickally altered his clothes to fit properly.

Harry looked down at himself then up at her and said "Thanks, I needed that, I was going to buy some more clothes now that I have some money, but that was a lot easier." He thought to himself that he could probably do that as easily as he did the trunk the day before.

Harry tossed his wizard name book in his trunk, locked it, and without thinking, transfigured it to fit in his pocket so they could leave.

"Harry, what did you just do!" McGonagall said a little too loudly out of shock.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I forgot" Harry pleaded, cowering down and holding his hands up to block the blow that he knew was surely coming.

"Oh no, dear child," McGonagall swooped over. He flinched as she gently placed an arm around him and guided him over to the bed. "I was simply startled, that's all."

She sat Harry down. He curled up into himself and started rocking back and forth. "Shhh'" she soothed, tenderly brushing the hair from his face. McGonagall's face took on a compassionate lilt. "You are safe here. You didn't do anything wrong. That magick was advanced for any wizard your age, let alone one raised in the muggle world." She brushed the side of his face and softly lifted his chin. "You have quite a lot of talent, young man, and I am impressed."

Harry sniffled and dried his tears. Her eyes had the same caring he saw on the faces of his parents when he saw them in his dreams. He was just a bit shaky feeling now. "I'm sorry about that." He said embarrassedly," I'm not sure why I did that. I was just so sure I'd be hit again."

"It's alright," but the Professor made a mental note that if these terrors continued she would have to consult a specialist. She wiped away his tears with her thumb "Shall we go then?"

Harry nodded and then transfigured the trunk back to its original size, "I'll try not to forget again, wouldn't wanna surprise anybody else."

"I won't ask where you learned or how you managed that spell so quickly. As I am the transfiguration teacher, I expect you to always do your best in my class," McGonagall said with a quiet smile.

She lead Harry downstairs and out to a large black limousine. While Tom brought out Harry's trunk McGonagall explained that this car was on loan from the Ministry of Magick.

"There's a Ministry of Magick?" Harry said in wonder as he looked into the car door.Even for a limousine,this vehicle seemed large. McGonagall explained that the car was enchanted to be large enough inside the passenger compartment and trunk to hold whatever it needed, yet appeared to be a standard muggle vehicle from the outside. It was a creation of a Mr. Weasley of the Ministry. Usually such a long winded dissertation would be tiring, but the whole magickal world was interesting to him at this moment.

As they began their journey, a short, wide eyed creature seemed to fade out of the cushion next to Harry. "This is Pip, he is a house elf and will be accompanying you back to purgatory, er, the Dursley's." McGonagall added, but the boy was too fascinated with this new sort of being to catch the aside.

Harry had to take her word it that this was a male. Pip wore a tunic like garment stitched out of tea towels embroidered with the word 'Hogwart's' and a crest that would become very familiar to Harry. The longer he stared, the more the house elf's long pointed ear tips drooped.

"Do you find me unpleasing?" Pip's voice was very high pitched. It sounded just like his own that time Dudley had forced him to breath from a helium balloon.

"I'm sorry. I've just never seen a house elf before, Pip." He held out a hand in greeting, "My name's Harry."

Pip glanced at McGonagall, who gave a curt nod. After a moment more of thought, he accepted the hand with a hardy shake. "Not used to being treated so well. Wizard children usually treat house elves like a piece of furniture."

They quickly began a discussion about house elves and their place in the wizarding world. Harry soon realised that Pip would be more then a guardian, he would be the perfect tutor. A house elf was both a part of the wizarding world and somewhat an outside observer. Before he arrived school, he would have a good understanding of what to expect.

Quite literally before Harry knew it, the car had stopped. McGonagall had sat there simply observing the discussion, quite fascinated at Harry's ability to ask intelligent questions and make good deductions. When the car stopped she didn't want to bother to interrupt them. It wasn't until Harry looked out the window in thought that he noticed they weren't moving.

After realising they had arrived, he looked up at McGonagall.

She smiled, "Quenched your thirst for knowledge for a few minutes at least?" He nodded and she continued. "As Pip explained to you, house elves take care of others, it's in their nature and they find it very satisfying. Pip is particularly skilled at it." At this, Pip smiled broadly. "He will be looking after you until school, they have they own kind of strong magick. He'll make sure nothing happens." Then turning to Pip, she said, "Pip, if you would be so kind as to take Harry's trunk and Kleo's cage up to the smaller bedroom?"

"Yes ma'am, delighted to" Pip said and disappeared with a small pop.

Professor McGonagall barely touched the Dursley's back door with one finger and it clicked and swung open. She motioned Harry to follow and he did nervously. They walked in to find that it was lunch time and the Dursley's were gathered at the table.

"I thought we had gotten rid of you!" Vernon started in, but quieted down when he saw the stern woman in the velvet green robe following Harry.

"My name is Professor McGonagall,"she began politely "There will be a few changes around here." Harry saw Uncle Vernon turn successively darker shades of red, but the Professor ignored this.

"To begin with, Harry needs a proper room, for a change." The kitchen seemed to grow noticeably cooler very quickly. "I believe you have an extra bedroom upstairs."

"But that's my room too," Dudley interrupted with a whine.

McGonagall paused and the room went silent. "I usually encourage a child to speak their mind, but this is neither the time nor the place. I suggest you move whatever you want out of that room quickly or I will make it all go away." She said that last phrase so slowly and carefully there was no doubt the she would do it.

Dudley's eyes grew very large and he ran upstairs as fast as his fat legs would carry him. Sounds of different things being dragged around upstairs met their ears as she continued.

McGonagall turned to Harry, gently stroking his hair, "You've had a tiring day, dear boy. Why don't you go to your new room and get some sleep. Your trunk with all your things will already be there, and when you need him, all you have to do is call Pip's name and he should appear. I'm going to have a little chat with your aunt and uncle and I will see you at school, if you need me before that, send me a letter with Kleo, or, if its an emergency send Pip."

Harry looked into her eyes and all his fears and worries left his mind, his feet seemed to carry him upstairs without thinking about it. He stumbled to the bed, not caring if Dudley was still moving things out of the way. Harry unlocked his trunk and slowly extracted Norbert. Dudley, who had been carrying a load to his room returned to see Harry hugging the purple velveteen dragon.

A small amount of Dudley's bravado must have returned because he grabbed Norbert by the wings. "So, the mighty wizard has a stupid stuffed toy!" He yelled shaking it.

Norbert's eyes glowed red and he breathed out a short jet of flame, scorching most of the hair off of Dudley's arm. He squealed like a stuck piglet, and threw the dragon toward Harry and ran from the room.

Harry closed the door, slowly undressing for bed. He was already half asleep by the time his head hit the pillow.

McGonagall's smile faded as soon as Harry left the room. As she takes slow, measured steps toward Vernon and Petunia, they feel compelled to stand up and back out of the kitchen. Step by step she herds them into the living room, the two almost fall over backwards onto the sofa.

She explained about Pip and that he would be staying at Harry's side for the rest of the summer. There would be no discussion on this, so they had better adapt to the idea. She fell silent again and continued standing over them, nostrils flaring. Once the sounds of movement stopped upstairs she cleared her throat and began again, talking in a voice barely above a whisper. "Now for the real point of my visit. Vernon Dursley, what excuse do you have for how you treated that boy? What excuse do you have for hitting a child?"

"Now see here," His voice cracking, "The boy was a wild thing, out of control, he needed discipline."

McGonagall paced across the room, "There is a **_large_** difference between reasonable discipline and out right assault. You don't beat your son."

Vernon jumped to his feet. "Now see here! You people dumped that squalling baby on my doorstep and expect me to treat him as my own? I never asked for that."

McGonagall glared at him, making his legs feel weak, "And that boy never asked for you, but he was stuck with you. You are his only living family and I would expect that would mean something even to a small minded person like yourself."

"He's not my family. He is one of your kind, he doesn't even belong here, he belongs with you people. Why didn't you keep him where he belonged, you people must have orphanages or something."

McGonagall stood there for a moment. For the first time Vernon believed he may have pushed her too far, he just didn't understand how far yet. "That boy is your wife's nephew. He may not be your blood, but he is your family just as much as she is. He belongs with family. No one dreamed we were sending him to live with a genuine beast. You should have stopped this early on." She pointed at Petunia who mumbled something like 'mimbywimble'.

The professor put on a syrupy sweet smile. "Oh I understand, really I do. This boy represents everything you two have tried to pretend doesn't exist. Especially you Petunia. So both of you took all your fears of things you couldn't explain out on a **defenseless** **little boy**. Oh, I am sure he was frustrating to people as closed minded and intolerant as both of you. I am sure he seemed like a monster to you, but if you had looked in the mirror you would have seen the true monster was the bigot inside of both of you." Her voice had steadily grown in volume. "Don't you dare turn away. You can face this on your own or I will make you see things as they really are, which way do you want it?" Vernon and Petunia squirmed, but managed to keep from turning away, despite seeing McGonagall pull out a wand with a glowing tip.

Their reaction must have satisfied the professor, because she nodded and lowered her wand. "I know you two may not believe it now, but that boy deserves the same treatment as you, maybe better. By the time I leave here you will be treating this boy decently. You have treated Harry like dirt, but in the magical community his parents are very well thought of and Harry himself is loved by people who have never even had a chance to meet him. I see you understand me Vernon, finally a thought is forming in that simple mind of yours. Many powerful people care about his welfare, and some of these people have as bad a temper as you do. People will see those bruises and scars when he gets to school, not all of them will have time to heal by then. This sort of treatment won't remain your dirty little secret much longer. Nothing I could do would keep this secret from coming out, even if I wanted to. No muggle law enforcement can catch these people, and few magical courts would convict them for making your life, well, shall we say **_difficult_**. You may have been able to ignore the special things about Harry, but your willful ignorance will not make these people go away. Remember Vernon, you do not live in Egypt, and there is no river in your backyard." McGonagall swirled her cloak around herself and it folded in on itself until there was nothing left.

Vernon looked over at Petunia with a lost look on his face, and with a condescending air all she says is "Denial."


	8. Back To The Dursleys

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_Thanks for the reviews, but I need more to stroke my ego, tell your friends to read read read, and review. Pleeeeeeeze review pleeeeeeze read thanks _

"**Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 8 "Back To The Dursley's"**

Harry woke up screaming. "Uncle Vernon, don't hit me anymore, please! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please stop!"

Pip appeared quickly with a cool washcloth. "It's alright Master Harry it was just a dream," he said as he washed Harry's forehead, trying to calm him down.

Harry was breathing really hard and couldn't catch his breath. He looked at Pip and choked out, "I can't breath."

Pip put his hands on Harry's chest and immediately Harry breathed easy as a warm feeling spread out and around him from the little house elf's hands.

It was Harry's first night back with the Dursley's. Dinner had been a nervous and extremely quiet affair after Harry's little nap earlier that day. He had no idea what Professor McGonagall had said to the Dursley's but he was grateful. He looked at the clock as he finally managed to calm down, 4:37 am.

"Aw man, Pip, whats wrong with me?" Harry said as he noticed that he wasn't just wet from sweat. "How can I be this great wizard everyone expects. Even with the advanced magick that I can already do, I can't stop being so scared of a nightmare that I wet the bed," Harry said as he brought his knees up and put his head in his arms as the tears started to flow.

"Master Harry, that is an easy one to answer, everyone gets scared. Even Professor Dumbledore does, and tis said Master Dumbledore is the only one you-know-who was ever afraid of too."

"But what does Dumbledore have to be afraid of?" Harry said between sobs.

"Well for one, I knows he is scared that he hurt you too much by not checking how these Dursley's was treating you. He's real scared that you are hurt beyond healing. But I tells him I will help you get over the hurt. You is the boy-who-lived. I knows how your parents were, I remembers them. I knows you can get over this. You is real strong."

"I'm not strong, I couldn't even stand up to Dudley and his gang, they even scared the other kids into not being my friend."

"All you needs Master Harry is confidence. I will help you with that cause I know your parents are real proud of you and they is sorry they had to leave, but you has a lot of people that loves and cares for you, I know, cause I is one."

"Really?" Harry looked up.

"Yep, I knows the Dark Lord was really powerful, but you beat him when yous was just a year old. Now you can already do spells that wizards years older than you have trouble with," Pip said as he waved his hand over Harry, returning him and the bed linen to a clean and dry state, "now yous needs to rest, Madame Pompfrey said you has a broken arm and leg that needs to heal correctly before school. She tolds me the magickal casts she put on shouldn't stop yous from moving about but you must rest for them to heal rightly."

"But what about my chores? I'll do my share and if the Professor's talk doesn't have Dudley doing his share then I was hoping maybe you would do his share so I can rest."

"Absolutely not Master Potter!" Pip was horrified," I will dos your chores and your cousin WILL dos his."

"Well then I will help you. Please, no matter how they treated me, I need to do at least some of it."

From the look in Harry's eyes, Pip knew he was loosing the argument. He just hoped the other house elves at Hogwart's never hear about this, it would be far to embarrassing to admit his charge did his _own_ chores. "I will lets you help with the garden then, at which time you will be studying your herbology textbook."

"Wonderful, I was hoping to study all my stuff before school. Do you think you could help me with other subjects too? I really would like to have them all done by school."

"Yes Master Harry, I would be very glad to help you. Now you rest and I will gets you some breakfast and we will get started."

"Thanks Pip, thanks a whole lot for everything." Harry gave the little elf a hug and lay back down.

"No need for thanks, sir, this is what gives a house elf's life meaning." Pip practically skipped out of the room.

Out in the hallway after overhearing everything because of Harry's screams, Petunia was glaring at her husband and child. "Trying to deny what he was was one thing," Petunia said quietly, "But out right torment is something else. I may not have liked my sister and her lot, never wanted anything to do with them, but I never completely hated them. She was family. That witch was right, that makes Harry family as well. I can't believe I've let this go on. I guess I am as much to blame as you two. I stopped seeing him as even a person, we all did." Petunia turned toward her husband with tears welling up in her eyes. "He has broken bones Vernon, you did that. Dudley, you didn't just bully him, you kept him from making friends. You chased away any one who ever said 'hello' to Harry. How could you? What sort of a son have I raised? The both of you doing things to cause me to have to take the side of their kind? It makes me really angry." Petunias eyes had shifted from tears to anger and seemed to be glowing brighter and brighter as her anger increased. Vernon and Dudley seemed that they were getting pushed against the wall and started to rise a little off the floor as well.

"I need to go do some thinking, find your own breakfast." She quickly stomped down the stairs and out the front door.

The remaining two Dursley's just slid down the wall from about a half foot up, and continued on down till they were sitting on the floor. They looked at each other bewildered, until Vernon spoke, "son we best be doing some soul searching too, and stay out of your mothers way, and for heaven's sake, stay away from Harry. If you can't say anything nice about a person, don't say anything to them at all. That's always been my motto."

"Yes dad." Something is definitely changing around here, Dudley thought, might be time to change with it. Dudley had been given food for thought lately, so he decided to try it for a change, thinking that is.

After Harry had his breakfast he figured he should probably learn more about wizarding culture. So jumped right in with the extra books he had gotten about the wizarding world, only stopping when owls delivered the newspapers he had subscribed to. When Pip brought in his lunch at 11:30, Harry had skimmed through all of them and had lots of questions Pip was more than happy to answer. They kept at it, with Pip helping him learn basic wizard culture and bringing him his meals, getting to know each other better. Much of the second day was spent with Pip telling Harry about his parents and their friends, as well as all the teachers and other adults that would most likely be in Harry's life.

Harry had spent a lot of time reading in his young life. He used any books he could get his hands on to take his thoughts away from his situation. He had even studied an old book he found on speed reading. The lessons he had learned from the yellowing pages were finally coming in handy. Harry kept jumping from book to book to keep from getting too bored with any one subject and to give his brain time to process the information. By the end of the first week, Harry had nearly memorized the first two chapters of every text book for first years, and only needed Pip's help a little to master the basics he was learning. The Dursley's remained very scarce, in fact Harry hadn't seen them all week. Harry hadn't been outside his room except for the bathroom all week because he had been too absorbed in his studies, but now it was Saturday, and Harry realised he needed a break after Pip had mentioned that he really needed fresh air to heal well.

As they were going out to the garden they passed through the living room where the Dursley's were watching television. Harry's magickal casts were becoming more noticeable and would continue to do so as the magick was absorbed into Harry's body. Harry was wearing short pants and a t-shirt and so the casts were quite noticeable. Aunt Petunia opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. Harry caught Uncle Vernon's eyes, and Vernon quickly looked down. Harry stood there for a few minutes making uncomfortable faces, then finally shrugged and said, " I'm going to go work in the garden." The Dursley's said nothing. With nothing else to say Harry and Pip just left.

Outside Harry took a deep breath and couldn't believe how clean the air seemed. Harry felt as though he was finally free to be himself... whatever that was. Harry had worked in the garden before and had always had a connection to the various creatures living there. They would always seem to radiate towards him, and he liked that, they kept him company. When ever he could find an excuse, Harry had spent time in this garden.

As he began weeding he saw the little grass snake (natrix natrix) that had made its home there. "_Hello there little snake, how is your day_?" Harry said as Pip began glancing around nervously.

"_You sssspeak my language_?" The snake looked up in surprise.

"Master shouldn't be doing that." Pip whispered quickly.

Harry looked over at Pip, "That snake just spoke to me Pip!" Harry turned back to the snake. "_What do you mean your language?" _Harry said excitedly.

Pip began tugging on Harry's shirt. "Master needs to stop doing that!" a little more insistent now. "Someone could be watching."

"Doing what? Talking at a snake?" Harry shrugged as he looked back at Pip. "Whats going on Pip? I don't get it."

"You mean you doesn't know you is a parselmouth?" Pip asked in horror.

"What's that? Oh...talking to snakes?" Harry said as thought he was beginning to understand.

"No, tis a special ability! Is associated mostly with dark wizards, tis said he-who-must-not-be-named could do it." Pip replied as he shifted uneasily from one foot to the other.

"What are you saying? I'm actually talking in another language? It doesn't sound any different to me. I thought I was speaking English and the snake understood somehow." He still didn't understand exactly what was worrying the house elf.

"No no! Tis a magickal language Master Harry, you can understand it, but to everyone else it sounds like parseltongue." Pip grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt," It sounds like hisses. You mustn't be doing it in public. Peoples will be thinking you is a dark wizard!" The poor fellow was frantic and near hysterics.

"Aw c'mon Pip, you know me, I'm not a dark wizard, and after Voldemort, oops sorry, you-know-who, and the Dursley's, I don't plan on becoming one."

"Yes, I knows Master Harry," but Pip looked like he wasn't quite sure he really believed what he had just said, "Others will not! Best not let them sees you talking to a snake."

"Alright," Harry decided he couldn't win this argument, "but right here and now we're alone and I would like to get to know this little snake. Besides, if I practise, I will learn to control it better so it doesn't happen by accident, right?" Harry said, not ready to give up on using his new ability. "Besides you said **_mostly_** dark wizards, not **_only_** dark wizards could talk with snakes."

"I suppose so, but I still don't likes it. But yous remember tis hard to be sure yous is all alone in the wizard world."Pip had his arms crossed by this point and a frown on his pathetic looking face.

Harry turned back to the snake, who had been watching this exchange with curiosity.

_"Whatsss that all about?" _

_"Oh nothing," _Harry replied, _"Its just that the ability to talk to snakes seems to be frowned upon by the wizarding community."_

The snake just shook his head, _"Ah, thosse ssssilly men with their sssticksss."_ which made Harry laugh. _"Anyway, my day issss fine."_

_"What? oh yes, I asssked you that, didn't I, may I asssk your name?" _Harry said.

_"I like the name Archimedesss, masssster." _the snake replied.

_"My name isss Harry Potter."_ Harry said. _"But whatssss with the massster bit?"_

_"Firsst, the ability to speak with ussss isss a rare gift indeed. When sssnakess find a wizard who hasss sssuch a gift, it isss cussstomary to pledge our loyalty. Sssecond, the-boy-who-lived isss indeed an honourable perssson to pledge ssssuch loyalty. If you will accept, I will gladly pledge that loyalty to you." _Archimedes said very calmly.

Harry was a little stunned to say the least. He didn't want to insult the snake. Having another friend to talk to is always a good thing, so Harry wanted to accept this offer. "_I am not comfortable being followed blindly by anyone or anything. If you choosssse to be my companion because you sssee worth in me, then it would be my honour to consssider you a loyal friend. But, pleassse don't do thiss jusssst becaussse it is cusstomary." _

Harry offered his hand for Archimedes to climb upon. The snake's small, cool body glided up Harry's arm and right into his pocket for a little more warmth, then went to sleep.

Pip glared at him uncertainly, until Harry looked his way. Then the house elf looked down and began digging his toes into the earth.

"Don't worry Pip," Harry tried to reassure him. However, it didn't seem to help anything." Well, worry or don't worry, whatever you want. I've been beaten down for who I was. I won't stop being myself anymore just because it frightens some people. But I promise you, I won't try and flaunt my skills. Those who want to be my friend will be because of who I am inside, not just what I can or can't do. Anyone else wouldn't be a true friend, and I don't need those kinds around me." Harry then went back to his weeding.

After a long while the house elf was still digging his toe into the ground. Harry finally broke the silent without looking up. "Pip, I have no intention of being a dark lord or a dark anything else. You should realise that by now."

"Yous know what they says is paved with good intentions. Yous have said you is unsure about who you is." Pip stopped moving his foot and just stared at the ground. "I watched the young Dark Lord from a distance, before he became so dark. He didn't starts out as evils as all that. It was laters he gots drunk with power for powers sake."

"Alright." Harry got up and walked over so he could sit down next to Pip. "You're right, intentions aren't enough. Starting today, I will choose who and what I want to be and become. I will not allow myself to become Voldemort, no matter how tempting it seems. But talking to this little fellow in my pocket is not evil. Think of what he can teach me about the world from his point of view."

"You has a point," Pip nodded and looked up at Harry with hope for the first time he started talking to the grass snake. "But yous don't know how some magickal snake-creatures is **_nasty_**. Is in their nature, to hurt other things just to see them hurt. Just like cleaning and helping in house elf nature. Just like asking questions is Harry's nature."

"I'll remember that, and you remember that caring is also in my nature. I've been hurt too many times and too deeply to enjoy watching anyone else suffer."

Pip looked deep into Harry's eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of his soul. Finally, Pip decided that if any one was able to defeat the Dark Lord when he came back, it would be Harry. To do this, he would need to have such a strong character that true friends would not doubt him, no matter what other wizards thought of this ability or any other Harry developed along the way. Pip realised to build that sort of trust, Harry would not be able to hide this talent from his closest friends. Hopefully, these painful years Harry had lived through would allow him to understand who should be trusted with such sensitive information and who should not. Pip realised Harry had to make key choices about the road he would take in life, even though the boy probably did not. Yes, Harry was indeed beginning to grow up. Finally, Pip smiled at Harry and then went in to prepare an extra special meal for the whole family. Harry sat there in the garden for a while longer, trying to figure out what made the bloody elf so happy all of a sudden.


	9. An Upside Down World

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_Thanks for the reviews. I hope you'all can handle this chapter, its really twisted. I wasn't sure myself at the beginning, but my muse had other plans, and I had never read this in another fanfic, I figured, why not? So in the words of Billy Madison "I mad the duck blue because I've never seen a blue duck, and to be honest, I wanted to see a blue duck." _

"**Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 9 "An Upside Down World"**

Vernon had been sulking about ever since **_that boy_** got back, even though Harry had kept to his room studying. At the one attempt at a civil family meal a week ago, Vernon just sat there glaring at Harry the whole time, occasionally chewing at his bushy mustache. Petunia and Dudley were beginning to come around, well, sort of. They were slightly above tolerating Harry, which was a lot better than what had happened before.

Harry had been throwing himself into his studies and had nearly memorized all of his books. It seemed that Harry's brain had been like a dry sponge all these years just aching for moisture. Being exposed to the magickal world had been just what his mind was waiting for, he seemed to be learning at an ever increasing rate.

It was Saturday again, and Pip thought he would try again at an extra special family meal. Petunia was getting rather used to having a house elf around, they loved to keep things clean and were very good cooks. She was beginning to reconsider what she had felt for so many years about the magickal community. Petunia called the family to eat once Pip had all the food on the table. Harry had been in the garden and had taken a little longer to get there because he had to wash up. He heard Pip speaking rather harshly so he walked quietly into the dining room to see what was up.

"Mr. Vernon, Harry is been nothing but kind to yous. He insists in doing his chores, even at risk of hurting hisself again. I makes special dinner for everyone today. I is happy to, Mrs. Petunia has even says she doesn't mind if I help more. Since I is already making Harry's food, I decides to make a special dinner for every one to enjoys. I looks at your size and thinks even you would like that. All you can do is sits in front of your picture box and ask if **_he_** will be at table. All you dos is be grumpy and ungrateful and acting like a little child. If you be having a fit like a nasty little child, it high time you be treated like nasty little child. I knows just how to deal with that." Pip pointed at Vernon and snapped his fingers. Vernon's eyes rolled up in his head and he groaned as his body shrank down to the size and proportions of a boy around four years old. His cloths changed with him, so he was in a summer shirt and short pants. Before the little brat could move, Pip strode over, put the boy over his knee and began spanking Vernon's ample bottom.

Harry was shocked, but after about ten seconds of the spanking the shock wore off. He was starting to enjoy it a bit, but still wasn't sure if it was the right thing for a house elf to do. "Pip?" he began uncertainly.

The house elf paused just long enough to say with a stern pout, "he asks for this, Master Harry, you knows he did." When he started in again, Vernon let out a pathetic babyish squalling.

This was too much and Harry doubled up, laughing so hard he couldn't catch his breath. He fell over, literally rolling on the floor, laughing his arse off. Both Petunia and Dudley just sat there, Petunia with her hand covering her mouth, trying to swallow their laughter.

That brought Pip back to his senses, he stopped and looked around sheepishly. Petunia, calmed down and had more luck swallowing her laughter, but tears started rolling down her checks as she twitched and giggled. Pip placed the little boy on his feet, and the house elf snapped his fingers again. Vernon stood there swaying and groaning.

Pip looked down at his feet, "I looses control, I is sorry Master Harry. I is sorry to yous too, Mrs. Petunia."

Petunia guided the unsteady Vernon over to dining table to sit down. Vernon started to butter his napkin. She took that away from him, replacing it wit a dinner roll. "He should be all right, shouldn't he?"

"Is just shock. He should be his old self soon." Pip wrung his hands,"I didn't change his mind."

Harry thought or imagined his aunt mumbled 'pity'.

Petunia sighed. "I think I should find the smelling salts. Maybe I can salvage Pip's dinner."

"Are you alright Master Harry? I is **_really_** sorry I lost control like that," Pip said a little worriedly.

"I'm fine," Harry said, starting to catch his breath yet still laughing. "I can't believe you did that. I really can't believe how much I needed that. There's no need to be sorry Pip, I never in my life laughed like that before." Harry continued laughing as he fixed himself a heaping plate of food and retreated to his bedroom to study some more before bed.

A quick whiff of smelling salts brought Vernon back to his reality. Trying to save whatever face he had left, he threw a piece of chicken and a few rolls on a plate and stomped off.

Dudley and Petunia just look at each other as they stopped giggling. Dudley got a slightly startled look of deep thought on his face. This scared Petunia as she's never seen it before.

"Are you alright dear? Have something to eat, it is one of your favourites."

After a few moments he looked at her. "Nah, I'm not really hungry, I got some thinkin to do."

Petunia dropped her fork halfway to her mouth as Dudley got up and went to his room, not even bothering to take any food with him for later.

Dudley just lay on his bed thinking. After a half hour he felt a little more determined about what he wanted to do but was afraid. He got up and went to Harry's room. The door was open, and Harry was sitting at his desk doing his homework. Dudley was about to say something when he noticed just how normal Harry looked wearing clothes that actually fit. He was wearing jean shorts and a Metallica t-shirt. The only thing that wasn't really normal were the casts, which were quite visible. A feeling of disgust of his father hit him hard and he clutched his hand over his mouth fearing he would lose his lunch.

Harry heard this and turned his head to see a very ill looking Dudley turn away and run to the bathroom. "What the hell?" Harry exclaimed as he got up and ran after Dudley to see whats up. He followed Dudley into the bathroom and closed the door just as he threw up into the toilet.

"Whats up with you?" Harry said as he wet a wash cloth in cold water and went over and held Dudley's head as he heaved a couple more times. "Serious, Dudley, what's wrong?"

Dudley took the cold washcloth and wiped his face as he stood up and looked at Harry. "Man, I'm so sorry about how we been treatin ya," he spoke quietly.

Harry's mouth nearly dropped to the floor. "What brought that on?"

"Well, what that little creature did to dad was funny and all, but it made me start thinkin."

"You? Thinkin? I don't believe it." Harry laughed, this had to be a set up for some joke.

"Please, Harry, I gotta say this." He had a pained look.

Harry saw the seriousness in Dudley's eyes. "okay okay, go on."

"While I was sittin at the table something happened. I felt Dads humiliation at bein treated that way, cause ya know, that coulda been me. When I pick on you or any of the kids at school I never thought about that before. I just knew that it felt good to be able to tell others what to do. I never thought once about what they felt, ever." He stared down at the floor, "Never put myself in their, or your shoes. But at the table I did. I didn't know what to think. What were we doing, ya know? Dad told me to do it in his own way so I just went with it. I been in my room thinking what I should do, even though I knew what I should do. When I got up the nerve I went to tell you that I was sorry. I saw you sittin at your desk doin your homework, and I noticed you were just a regular kid, specially now that you got clothes of your own. They were part of what did it, before it was you were taking my old clothes. Taking something from me, no matter I couldn't use em anymore. The other part was the casts. My dad actually broke your bones and didn't even take you to the doctor or anything. It made me sick to think what he did, that I had a hand in it. I realised my dad was just a really big bully, and a dangerous one at that."

Harry just stood there. "Man, I really don't know what to say."

"Er, Harry, we all heard what you said to the little elf the first night you were back. You woke us up when you yelled." Harry started to feel small now. Dudley noticed this. "I didn't say this to embarrass you. It just made me realise what all this has done to you, giving you nightmares and all. I wish we could make it up to ya somehow."

Harry just couldn't believe it. After all these years, Dudley had finally grown a conscience. "Well, not doing it anymore is a real good start," Harry said as he opened the bathroom door, and turned to go to his room.

Dudley started to go to his own room but stopped. "Er, Harry?" Harry looked back at him. "Do you wanna watch a movie in my room? I got this real funny one that mum and dad don't know about."

"I guess." Harry was still in disbelief.

"Great, go get some popcorn and I'll get the videotape ready to go."

"Er, okay," Harry said heading downstairs. In case Dudley changed his mind tomorrow, Harry wanted to enjoy having a cousin who was human for once.

Meanwhile, Petunia had been discussing her own demons with Pip as they cleaned up the kitchen.

"I can't believe Dudley didn't eat anything, he's always hungry," Petunia commented as she began carrying the dishes to the sink." Pip just smiled and began assisting in the manual muggle way. "Perhaps you should take Vernon over your knee more often, Dudley could stand to lose a few pounds."

"Why din't Miss go to Hogwart's?" Pip said, not really experienced in casual conversation.

Harry was almost to the kitchen door when he heard Pip say that and stopped. Knowing Petunia would say nothing in front of him, and this was a very interesting question that needed an answer.

Petunia stopped, but didn't turn around, and after a few moments continued rinsing the dishes for the dishwasher. "I suppose I shouldn't ask how you know that. Well, I've actually been thinking on that the last few days. My sister, Lily, and I never got along. She was a few years older. All I ever heard was Lily was good at this, and good at that. It always seemed to me that nothing I did would gain the attention or approval of my parents. They were so pleased when she got her letter from Hogwart's. Oh, how delightful, we have a witch in the family. How could I ever compete with her now. During the holidays she was always telling how good she was doing. I was so angry I couldn't stand it. So one night, I crept into her room and got her wand and her book to see if I could do anything to try and show her up. I read through it and try though I might I couldn't get a stupid feather to float. I checked and rechecked if I was doing it correctly, and after a good hour of trying, it floated up about a dozen centimeters, and then fell back down. I was so excited I almost called out, but caught myself as I realised that I would not be very good and would have to compete with her at that school as well. So I put her things back and cried myself to sleep. The next year I got a letter too but decided since I wasn't very talented, I'd save myself the embarrassment of going. I was tired of trying to compete with my sister. I tore it up before my parents ever found out. I went on to secondary and made every effort to distance myself completely from the magickal world. I met Vernon and fell in love for the first time in my life. He found out about my sister though. I thought he wouldn't want to see me anymore, but he saw how much I despised my sister and reinforced my hatred of magick. So he never knew. I thought things would be okay, But right after we graduated, I got pregnant. He would have been disgraced, so we eloped." Petunia turned on the dishwasher and turned around to face Pip. "Want to hear the real kicker?" She asked with a forced laugh.

A stunned Harry hoped Pip would say 'yes' as he stood hiding just outside the kitchen.

"Dudley got a letter a few months before Harry. But with Vernon's attitude I ripped it up immediately. I've seen no sign of ability in Dudley, I was hoping I could ignore it like we've tried to do with Harry. You know, no one sent a second letter for Dudley. I was surprised Harry got so many letters. He must have more talent, just like his mother did."

This explained volumes. Startling as all this was, Harry decided he had to compose himself. If he talked to Vernon, this could finally give him the upper hand here. As tempting as that was, all of the Dursley's had their own reasons for what they had done. Harry didn't want to break up this family, there had been enough pain in this house. Better to keep his mouth shut. He pulled himself together before walking into the kitchen for popcorn and soda.

A startled Petunia quickly tried to act naturally and failed. Her small talk proved no better then Pip's had. "So what are you up to Harry?"

"Not much." Harry smiled to himself as he got some soda from the refrigerator realising he must have really unsettled Petunia, she was acting like a normal person towards him. He thought he should go for the gold and said, "er, Dudley apologized for how he's treated me so we're gonna watch a movie in his room."

Harry grabbed the bag of popcorn from the cupboard and walked out of the room, leaving a rather queasy Petunia and a VERY confused Pip.


	10. My Hero

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_Thanks for the reviews. A special thanks to shadow phepnx for getting me back on track. Dudley won't be going to hogwarts and they won't be goody goody. Also a special thanks to athenakitty, i don't mind the spelling corrections, I am very anal about spelling myself and the openoffice spellcheck isn't very good. But when I go through the story manually, I tend to get so caught up I miss the corrections that are needed, how conceited is that? Anyway, on to the story and please review, and if you like dark Harry, check out my other story. _

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 10 "My Hero"**

"What took so long?" Dudley asked when Harry walked in.

"Nothing, your Mother just asked me what I was up to." He shrugged and handed Dudley a soda.

"Really? Weird."

"That's what I thought. So anyway what's the movie?" Harry asked eager to change the subject.

"It's called 'Ford Fairlane: Rock and Roll Detective'. Hand me the popcorn, I skipped dinner, and I just blew my lunch."

"You skipped dinner?" Harry asked astonished.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up Harry, I had a lot on my mind."

"You had a..."

"I said shut up Harry."

"Okay, okay lets just watch the movie." He wasn't sure how long before Dudley might change his mind about palling around, come to think of it Harry wasn't sure how long it might be until he himself changed his mind.

The movie was a funny, crude plot. The dialog was cheesy, the acting was so so, but all in all, not too bad for the Diceman's first starring role. Just the sort of movie any teen age boy is likely to enjoy. This was a rare treat for Harry, since he generally could only catch bits of movies on the telly between chores. When the movie was nearly over, the part where the main character brings his arm up causing a gun to pop out from his sleeve made Harry gasp and grab the remote to pause it.

"Hey," Dudley protested reaching for the remote,"This is the good part! He's about to blow the bad guy away."

"Pip" Harry called out.

"What is it master Harry? Is something wrong?" Pip popped in out of nowhere.

Dudley jumped but Harry just told Pip to watch the movie while he replayed the part with the gun. "Pip, could you make a holster like that for my wand? So it would shoot out from under my sleeve into my hand like that? I think I'll need an advantage if ole moldy-mort shows up."

Pip giggled at the silly name. "Yes sir, I thinks I can make something like that. I'd be proud to help fight against you-know-who, er, moldy-mort" Pip said, daring to make fun of you-know-who. He glanced around nervously before disappearing so the boys could enjoy the carnage.

The holster was done the next day and worked beautifully. It had a magickally activated spring and latch system tuned to Harry. All Harry had to do was think about it, and his wand would shoot into his hand, or back into the holster.

Harry had to keep his distance because Dudley was starting to get curious about magick, plus he still wasn't sure how to take the supposedly new Dudley. Even a sort of friendly, or at least non hostile Dudley was kind of hard on the nerves. So Harry just kept to himself like always, studying in his room.

It had been a long day so Harry went to bed early. It was a little before midnight when he felt a frantic tugging on his arm. In his dream it was an overly friendly puppy jumping on him. He awoke when he heard a high pitched voice, "Please, Master Harry has to wake up."

"What is it Pip?" Harry asked sitting up, rubbing his eyes.

"Trouble sir, there is a wizard downstairs who is angry with Mr. Vernon."

"Oh crap, here it goes." Harry stated as he jumped out of bed and pulled on some shorts and a shirt. He grabbed the holster and strapped it to his wrist on the way down. He crept down as quietly as possible, surprise could be important here. He paused at the bottom of the stairs, then peeked around the corner. There was a gnarled, white haired wizard pointing a wand at a shaking uncle Vernon who was on the floor. He seemed to have more scars then normal skin, and a chunk missing out of his noise.

As he jumped around the corner, Harry brought his arm up, his wand sliding into his hand.

"Just in time. By the way, nice trick, Potter, you make that yourself?" The wizard said hoarsely, but obviously not surprised by Harry's entrance.

"No, I just got the idea, but Pip actually made it." Thats when Harry noticed that the wizard had a large round eye trained on him while his normal eye was still on Vernon. "Now, put your wand down. I can't let you hurt him."

The wizard lowered his wand, "Why would you defend someone who would give you those bruises and broken bones?"

Was that surprise Harry saw on the wizard's scarred face? "I don't know really," Harry kept his wand trained on the intruder," just seems the thing to do at the moment. If I want revenge on him, I am capable of doing that myself. But I think he's starting to learn his lesson, slow as that may be." Vernon seemed to relax just a little, Harry didn't want him too sure of the situation, yet. That wouldn't do. "Besides if any one is going to hurt him, it should be family. Learned that one from you, Uncle Vernon."

The gnarled wizard put away his wand, "I see you have the situation well in hand, Potter," He pulled up a chair a sat down. Now Harry saw that the wizard had a carved wooden leg that ended in a eagle like claw. His over sized eye started to rotate in its socket. "Name's

Moody, Alastor Moody, but a lot of people call me Mad Eye, for obvious reasons, but I ain't sure if I like that name yet. I admit I've been called worse. You can just call me Moody."

Harry hadn't lowered his wand yet, but that didn't seem to worry this Moody character too much. "Well, you obviously know who I am. Why did you have to come here to threaten the likes of him?"

"I heard about how this lout had been treating you. I thought I would come by and teach him a little respect. Maybe I was just bored I guess. I use to be an Auror, and things was gettin dull in my retirement. I used to know your parents. When I heard this fellow was using you as a punching bag I couldn't really stand for that now could I?"

"An Auror? I've read about those. You fought Dolt-emort, didn't you?" He finally lowered his wand.

"Heheh, that's a new one, yes I did, but with most of his supporters dead or in Askaban, I decided to take an early retirement. Didn't know it'd be even more boring than that little office I was stuck in." Moody took a hip flask out and drank from it. "always prepare your own food young Potter. In my line of work, it's saved my life. No one can poison you if you don't give them the chance."

So this fellow was a little paranoid, with the scars he has, he's got good reason. "Well, I appreciate you coming by, Mr. Moody, really I do, but Professor McGonagall had a chat with them. I don't know what she said, but it seems to have worked. Plus, I got Pip here to make sure."

"Alright then I'll be off, I think maybe I need to get a hobby." Moody heaved himself to his feet.

It didn't seem right just letting this fellow leave like this, after going to all this trouble. Then Harry had a thought. "Well, if ya got any stories you'd like to tell from when you were an auror, I'd love to hear 'em sometime. Maybe you could send an owl or drop by the school. Plus," Harry added with some embarrassment, "I don't really know too many folk in the wizard world."

"Really, you'd wanna listen to me ramble on 'bout the ole days?" The scarred face brightened up and Moody looked twenty years younger.

"Yeah, really."

"Okay then, I'll let you get back to bed, and I'll send you an owl sometime." and with that Moody left.

As Harry went to bed he thought how cool it must have been to be an auror. He always found the cop shows, when he was able to watch them, kind of boring. Except maybe the car chases. But the idea of magick, dark wizards, these kinds of stories had to be awesome. He had never dreamed of this kind of stuff until he was rescued by Hagrid. He couldn't wait to talk to Mr. Moody again.

Harry woke to some noise wafting up from downstairs. He was having a good dream. He had been chasing Voldemort through the woods. Harry and his team had finally caught up with and surrounded him in a clearing. "Hey Dork Lord." Harry yelled. Voldemort turned in anger and was about to cast a spell, but Harry was too quick for him. He brought his arm up, his wand shooting into his hand. A large green lightning bolt shot out of his wand and hit Voldemort square in the chest. Voldemort screamed in pain then exploded in a fiery mass, sparks shooting in every direction. Harry was cheered as the hero, which was the only part about the dream he didn't like. It made him uncomfortable.

Harry got up and threw on some clothes before going down to investigate the noises. He got downstairs to find the Dursley's heading out, with their suitcases already loaded into the car. Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Er, Aunt Petunia, what's going on?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Harry, I was going to leave you a note. But since you're up, I'll just tell you. Last night was too much for your Uncle."

Harry looked over at his uncle, who was very pale and distant. "Uncle Vernon?" No response.

"He's been like that since last night. That's why we're gonna go visit Marge. That, and to hide out until the repercussions of what we did to you dies down."

Harry looked a little scornful. "Yeah well," Harry started but Petunia cut him off.

"I want to say I'm sorry. But what's done is done."

Harry wasn't gonna let her off that easy. Time to maybe let something slip in front of Dudley. "Sorry Aunt Petunia, but I overheard what you and Pip were saying the other night about your and Dudley's Hogwart's letters."

Dudley was shocked and Petunia was pissed. "I got a letter too? What the hell's going on mom?" Dudley said in an confused voice.

"Button it Dudley." Petunia said harshly as she glared at Harry. "How dare you listen in on a private conversation."

"No, how dare you try to make what happened to me sound like a slap on the wrist. As for you and Dudley, it would appear you can do at least some magick, and ignoring it won't make it go away. It just makes it dangerous. I may have a lot to learn still, but I already know that magick is dangerous when you don't know how to use it. You guys need to get your head outta your arse and wake up. I don't want to have to talk down any more wizard's that come after ya." Harry stated getting the upper hand.

"Wait, are you saying I can do magick too?" Dudley said realizing that being a freak could have its advantages.

"I said button it, Dudley." Petunia said getting frustrated, then in a slightly softer tone, "We'll talk about it later."

Then turning her attention back to Harry, she studied him a moment trying to think of something to say. He looked like a little boy, but you could see the man he would become in those green eyes. She could also see her sister in those eyes. A sister she finally realised was never coming back. A sister that had died to protect her son. Petunia had never grieved, she had only focused on the fact she had another kid to take care of. A kid that wouldn't let himself be put down anymore. Petunia then got a startled look on her face, she was actually starting to respect Harry. "Oh my, keep this up and I might start thinking of you as a person. How did you become so smart?"

"Good genetics" Harry said not to be outdone.

"I hope Pip will keep you from blowing up the house before you leave." Petunia said as she got into the car.

Harry turned to the silent Dudley, "I guess I'll see you sometime cousin."

"Yeah, er, sometime I guess." said an unusually subdued Dudley.

Then Harry got a twinkle in his eye and said "try not to blow up your Aunt Marge, OK?" and he winked at Dudley who just remained open mouthed at the thought as they pulled out onto the street and were off.

As Harry watched them drive off he noticed a cab at Mrs. Figg's house. She was having trouble getting out as she had a broken leg and the driver was doing nothing to help.

"Let me help you Mrs. Figg." Harry called out as he headed over to her.

"Oh thank you so much dear boy." she said.

"Couldn't lend a hand could you!" Harry said angrily to the driver who looked at Harry and went a little pale before quickly driving off.

"Tripped over one of my cats." She said as they made their way up the sidewalk. "Might be a good idea for me to rethink how many cats I want to keep."

Mrs. Figg stumbled slightly as Harry was helping her into the house. Pain shot through Harry's healing left arm as he put too much pressure on it. Harry gritted his teeth and sucked it in, he didn't want anyone to pity him. Luckily, she didn't even notice. After getting her into the house, she thanked Harry again and he left.

The next day was Monday and Harry was getting a little nervous. School was only a week away. What if couldn't live up to his name? What if people staring at the scar he once thought was kinda cool get to him? He was learning some magick, but the other kids grew up around it, so that wouldn't be anything special.

"What's the matter sir?" Pip asked when he saw Harry was just picking at his breakfast.

"I'm just a little nervous about school, that's all." said Harry still picking at his food.

"But Master Harry sir, you is the boy-who-lived. Everyone will know you, and you has been studyin real good. You can do stuff that many will never be able to do." Pip stated trying to cheer him up.

"That's what I mean Pip, I don't wanna be a celebrity. I know I can't hide but, I don't know."

"Tis okay Master Harry, just be yourself, and those that likes you will like you and those that won't won't. Just like yous said in the garden, remember?" Pip said in his best supportive voice.

"Yeah, I getcha Pip, thanks. I'm still nervous, but I guess I'll make it." Harry replied trying to sound reassured.

"You'll do alright, I knows it sir. Why don't you send an owl to Mr. Moody? Then we can goes and gets the muggle stuff you said you is wantin." Pip said trying to take Harry's mind off things.

"Yeah, thats a great idea Pip." Harry said as he went to send the owl.

Dear Mr. Moody

would you mind coming over this week sometime for  
some stories? Uncle Vernon wasn't feeling to well  
after last night, so they went to stay somewhere  
else for him to rest and maybe hide till what  
happened to me dies down.  
I start school next week and I'm getting a little  
nervous. I was hoping maybe you could show me some  
defensive spells too, if you would. I want to be  
prepared for whatever might happen, you know?

Thanks

Harry Potter

P.S. don't worry about me being left alone, I got Pip  
here. Please don't try and find the Dursley's. You  
really unsettled Uncle Vernon last night, not that he  
didn't deserve it, but my aunt and cousin are coming  
around finally, and have apologized.

"Kleo, can you handle two letters to two different people?

"Hoot, hoot." came her response.

"Great, could you take this one to Mr. Moody? and the next one to Professor McGonagall?" Harry said as he tied it to her leg.

"I'll be ready in a minute Pip, I just remembered another letter I want to send."

Dear Professor McGonagall,

I was just wondering if you had any  
pictures of my parents that I could  
have, I know its only a week till school,  
but it does get kind of lonely here.

Just a thought, thanks.  
Harry

"There, that should do it, thanks Kleo." Harry said as he tied the second letter to her leg and she took off.

Harry then got dressed and let Archimedes curl up in his pocket to go to sleep. He then grabbed his wand and holster and went downstairs to find Pip in a freshly cleaned kitchen. "Ready to go, wait, er, you can't go, the muggles will see you."

"No they won't Master Harry, us house elves don't be seen if we don't wants to be seen." Pip smiled.

"Oh, okay." Harry said completely used to this sort of thing by now.


	11. New Friends And Old Friends

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_I appreciate the reviews. Sorry it took so long,I had to completely rewrite the second half of this chapter because the new oc was becoming to big, so I toned her down. Plus I had to work on my Dark Harry fic, check it out if you're into Dark Harry. Also go to my hompage for photos and fanart relating to my stories. Please keep the reviews coming. Thanks. _

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 11 "New Friends And Old Friends"**

Harry decided he needed to get away from the house on Privet Drive for a while. There were a number of things he wanted to pick up before school started. He wanted to enjoy the muggle world for once, now that he would be free from the hovering presence of his relatives. Also, he had some money in his pocket and wanted to enjoy that as well. He wouldn't over do his spending, just enjoy it a little. He took a bus to the nearest major shopping district, hoping Pip wouldn't allow himself to be lost or sat on. It was difficult even for Harry to keep track of where the house elf was, Pip could hide well. He asked Archimedes if he wanted to join him, the snake decided to curl up in his shirt pocket.

Harry wasn't sure if Dumbledore would be able to find him a better situation next year, many things could happen between now and next summer. He couldn't be sure how Dudley would act next time they met, maybe this was simply shock. If he returned to his old habits, Harry wanted to be ready. A weight set would be a good place to start. Since he wasn't allowed to do magick outside of school, except for homework, he would need to be able to defend himself. Pip's excellent cooking had started to fill him out, but he need to build muscle and technique.

He found a sporting goods store and went in. He was in awe of all the equipment. He had always wanted to get into sports, but thanks to Dudley, not only did he not have friends, but wasn't allowed to join any teams either. That would definitely change now. He had read about a wizard sport called quidditch. They even had house teams at school. He couldn't wait to try out. A young, obnoxious clerk walked up behind Harry as he was looking at the weights.

"Gonna try and build yourself up are you? A little young I would think, you should be older then nine or so before you start." The shop clerk was bored and seemed to have decided this little kid was the best entertainment he could find. The spiky haired kid leaned over the counter so he could look down at this shrimp.

Harry had been enjoying himself and was in no mood to tolerate being treated like a little kid. He glanced at the clerk's tag. "Well, Mr. Rickman, I'm eleven. I may be small, but my money should be as good as anyones else's. Treat me with a some manners and I'll spend it here, or I could take my money somewhere else."

The clerk didn't see his manager strolling up behind him. "A little squirt like you, what have you been doing, saving up your allowance?"

The manager cleared his throat. "Mr. Rickman, the young man is right. His money is welcome here. Why don't you watch how you are supposed to handle a customer." He smiled a little condescendingly at Harry, "I'm sorry about that young man, I'm Dick Harris. I'm the manager here. What's the problem here and how may I help you?"

Harry tried to calm down a bit, he guessed patronizing was a bit better then out right rude. "Well, as that pimply faced git noticed, I'm a bit small for my age. I would like to build myself up a bit, not muscle bound, just a bit stronger."

"Well we have this small dumbbell weight set over here, be a good start for you." He showed Harry a set of two solid dumbbells in white molded plastic.

"Well, your clerk was awfully rude to me." Harry was going to milk this for all he could get. "Maybe there is some way you could talk me into spending my money here and not down the street?"

The manager offered him a credit of 40 percent of his total purchase towards health bars, books, or other extras. He also explained the benefits of different sets. He even explained the larger sets, although he looked at the clerk at this point, obviously this situation was being used as a training exercise.

Harry nodded playing along, "The credit will do."

"Now that, Rickman, is how you treat a customer. Every sale is important, large or small."

Harry looked at the different weight sets, he wanted to build up his muscle without losing his wiry speed. There was a high quality set with a bench and range of different free weights and accessories. "I'll take this one," he said pulling a large roll of cash from his pocket. "I'll take the credit in books on strength training, speed, and definition. Oh, I would also like a football and a flying disc."

Mr. Harris had to look twice before he believed it. "That credit is coming out of your commissions, Rickman. Well, er, yes, alright then, I'll just go write up the sale and have someone bring out the boxes. Your parents be along with the car soon?"

"Er, yes, yeah, just take them out to the pavement and I'll take care of it from there." Harry said forgetting about getting them home, hopefully Pip would manage it.

Under his breath Harry muttered, "Pip, if you can manage getting this stuff back home tug on my sleeve." Harry felt his sleeve give a little jerk. "Thanks."

Once outside and he was all alone with the packages, Harry said, "Okay Pip, its clear." and the boxes just quickly faded from view. "Excellent," Harry said with a broad smile.

Harry then went to a local dojo looking for information on martial arts. He knew fighting technique was needed, but also the mental balance that was portrayed in the movies would help him focus his magick as well.

The people at the training center were very friendly and helpful. He told them he was going away to school, and would like to sign up for classes next summer, but would like to get a start now. They recommended several books that would give him a good start in self defense as well as the deeper body/mind/spiritual balance. Harry thanked them for their help and left.

He headed off to the bookstore to get the recommended books. As he passed by the section on witchcraft/new age, he just had to check some of them out to see how close muggles came to getting it right. He actually laughed out loud at some of them because muggles had absolutely no clue. A few were really close though, but those he noticed were written by witches and wizards that he had found in one of his other books. He looked around a bit then paid for his selections and left.

Next Harry wanted to get a few more clothes. He had went down the street to a discount store shortly after arriving back at the Dursley's just to get a few things, but now he was at a big department store and could really get some cool stuff. He also got a cd player and a rather large selection of CD's.

Harry, done with his shopping spree, went back to the house with his purchases. Yes, house was definitely the word, this never really seemed like home to him. After putting most of his new things in his trunk, he heard a tapping at the window. It was Kleo with a response from Moody. The note said he would be more than happy to drop by, and would Tuesday evening be alright? After sending a quick answer off to Moody, Harry still felt restless. School was coming up very fast, and he needed to relax a bit more. He grabbed his copy of 'Magickal Creatures and Where to Find Them' and headed off to the nearby playground to read under a tree.

Afternoon shade was stretching into long evening shadows along the playground. Most of the children had headed home for dinner, so Harry nearly had the place to himself. Across the playground, a tall, slender girl wearing a biker's leather jacket was walking. She glanced his way, then stopped, walked a little closer and stopped again. Then she started heading straight toward him. As she got closer Harry could see she was about 13 or 14, with medium length brown spiked hair streaked with blond. She had multiple earrings and a nose ring. Harry was getting a little nervous hoping this wasn't one of Dudley's friends. She got within about several meters, then stopped and putting a hand on one hip, she stared intently at his book. Harry looked over the edge, then started to lower it.

"Nice book." Her voice was sort of deep and a bit husky. Her spiked hair glowed a little in the sun and she brushed a spiky golden puff out of her eyes.

"Oh, this is from one of those roll playing games," Harry explained nonchalantly. "it's called Witches and Wizards."

The girl laughed and grinned widely, "More like Flourish and Blott's. Mind if I sit down?" Harry didn't protest, so she sat cross legged beside him. She took one last look at the book and then at him. "Must be your first year at Hogwart's."

Harry started to ask, "How?" But before he could she offered him her hand, "My names Natellie, Natellie Tena, but most of my friends at school call me Nat."

"Harry," he said taking her hand, "Yeah, it's my first year. You been there long?"

"Yeah, this will be my third year, I just turned 13."

"Cool," Harry said, happy to meet someone else from his parents world, a world he would soon call his own.

She just smiled slyly, with a twinkle in her sapphire blue eyes. "I didn't know there were any other wizards around here."

"Actually, I just found out myself." Harry was getting nervous and embarrassed being so new to the wizarding world.

"My parents are muggles and when we got my letter, it really changed our plans." Nat paused for a moment, then looked straight at him. "How long have you lived around here? You don't look familiar."

He looked out across the playground in thought. "I've lived here most of my life, with my uncle and aunt, the Dursley's."

Nat let out a low whistle. "Oh that's why. Those folks are weird and nasty, especially that little twerp of theirs."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Harry fidgeted with the cast on his arm.

She caught that out of the corner of her eye. "I didn't know there was another kid there. They hid you well, looks like it isn't the only thing they hid. I'm awfully sorry I missed what was happening to you. Maybe I could have done something to help."

He gave her a startled look.

"I'm not wrong, am I?" She asked already knowing the answer.

"No, but how did you know?" Harry half expected to hear she was a mind reader.

"Your body language told me, when you messed with the cast. Magick isn't the only way to know things."

"Enough about me." Harry waved his hand dismissively. The rest of the children where finally leaving the playground, he could be a bit less guarded with his questions now. "Are there any other wizards around here?"

"Not that I know of, but my four best friends found out about magick by, er, accident." Nat got another infectious grin on her face. "The best part though, is I have someone to talk to about this outside of school. Maybe you'd like to meet them before start of term, Harry. If your relatives have been keeping you cooped up, you can't have had much chance to make friends."

Harry got a funny look on his face. "You don't think they will be put off that I'm a little kid?"

"You don't know my friend's, an interesting person is interesting despite their age. Besides you're a wizard, and they don't know many of those. Actually, I think I'm the only one they do know."

She thinks I'm interesting, Harry wondered. Then he said hopefully "I've got a wizard friend coming over tomorrow night around 6 pm. He used to be an auror. Maybe you and your friends might want to drop by?"

"Could be fun if hes got some stories to tell. What's his name?"

"Mr. Moody. Do you know him?"

"Not personally, but I have heard of him. Mad Eye they call him. I bet he has some really cool stories about you-know-who. I'll see you tomorrow then," she said as they both started to get up to leave.

Just then a gust of wind blew the hair away from Harry's forehead. She finally spotted the scar and stopped dead, then looked at the snake peeking out of his pocket. Harry glanced down at Archimedes, who slowly slipped back out of sight.

"Er" she said sounding a bit lost. "You're Harry Potter." She pulled herself together. "I'm sorry, Harry. You might be getting a lot of that, people staring I mean. You might want to keep your friend out of sight though. I heard the last wizard in these parts gave a bad name to it."

Harry was suddenly a bit annoyed. "Bad name to what?"

"Having a snake as a familiar." For the first time Nat was very, very serious, "And I expect you can talk to them too, or at least that one. It's in his body language. Told you there were different ways to know things. That ones a common species, not likely to be store bought. I hate to tell you who the last wizard known to work with ordinary snakes was."

Harry was calming down, mostly because he could see it was concern in her eyes, not fear of him. "Most people get a little superstitious about talking to snakes because the last known parseltongue was the same person who gave you that scar. Some people are likely to think you got more than just a scar from him. Stupid people might avoid you like you had something catching," Nat said trying to be helpful.

This was something Pip hadn't said quite so bluntly. Harry wasn't sure how to take this.

An awkward silence followed. It was getting dark and Harry closed his book, stowing it in his bag. Not thinking, he leaned on his bad arm when he got up. As pain shot through his arm, he winced but shifted his weight quickly to hide it from his new friend.

"I'd still like to meet your friend. If you don't mind." Nat said, obviously afraid she had offended him.

Harry grinned in the fading light. "Only if you can bring some of your friends," he said, turning to go.

"Better then that, I'll try to get some wizard treats, see you tomorrow evening," she left and Harry stood there in thought a moment before going back to the house.

Pip had dinner hot and waiting for Harry when he got back. Harry didn't realise how hungry he was until he smelled the good food. Throwing his bag on the sofa, he quickly washed his hands and dug in.

Just as Harry was finishing up, Kleo came with a large envelope from Professor McGonagall. Once Harry relieved her of her burden, she flew over and helped herself to some leftovers. Harry just stood and looked at the large brown envelope that contained photos of his parents.

"Is master Harry alright?" Pip popped in sensing Harry's distress.

"I don't know. I sent a note to Professor McGonagall asking if she had any pictures of my parents that I could have. She must have found some," Harry said as the emotions started to build.

"It will be alright, Master Harry, I is here if yous needs me," Pip said in a very comforting tone with a touch of magick for good measure.

"Thanks Pip, I'm glad you're here," Harry said as he opened the envelope and pulled out its contents. On top was a note from the Professor:

Dear Harry,

I was able to find these photos of your parents  
when they were still in school. The first one is  
of your mother with her best friend, then second  
is of your father with his three closest friends.  
Please enjoy the remainder of your holiday and I  
look forward to seeing you again on the 1st.

Professor McGonagall

Harry looked at the first picture. His mum was just as he remembered from his dreams. Harry wasn't surprised at the fact that she and her friend were waving at him. He had seen moving photos in Diagon Alley. He looked at the back of the picture. It said, Lily Evans and Kleopatra Jones, sixth year.

When he looked at the next picture he almost cried. There was his daddy, who looked just like himself, surrounded by his three friends. The names were listed at the bottom of the picture. His dad was second from the right, arms around each other with the boy on the right, Sirius Black. They were grinning ear to ear. This person was clearly his dad's best bud. Second from the left was a pale tired looking boy named Remus Lupin. He was grinning as he looked at the other two with a genuine respect. The one on the left made Harry uneasy though. He had a pointed rat like face, shifting eyes. It was obvious to Harry that this kid was only around for protections sake. He didn't seem to care about the other three, and would probably follow the most powerful kids in the school if they would let him. Harry didn't like this 'Peter Pettigrew' character at all. Harry turned the picture over to find the words 'The Marauders, sixth year'. Harry kind of liked the sound of that. If he was lucky enough to find these kinds of true friends, he may just have to revive the name, just like his dad, James Potter.


	12. Wizards And Muggles And Aurors Oh My!

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_Thanks for the reviews, a special thanks to my story editor for her help. _

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 12 "Wizards And Muggles And Aurors, Oh My"**

On Tuesday Harry was a little anxious all day waiting for his friends to arrive. He had never had friends before, not to mention he wasn't even sure if Nat's friends would like him. To take his mind off things, Pip started talking about magick from his point of view a little before lunch.

"Master Harry, yous says you wants to get ready for the wizard world, what does you want to know?" Pip asked to get Harry to stop pacing the freshly cleaned floor on his newly healed leg. The cast had disappeared this morning, but his arm remained in its cast because he kept re-injuring it.

"Okay," Harry thought for a moment before plopping on the couch. He patted on the cushion next to him in a friendly way, inviting the house elf to sit down. "How old are you?"

Pip blushed at the unexpected question, " I didn't expect yous to ask about me. Well, I has been working at Hogwart's for at least fifty or sixty years, and I doesn't really remember how old I is, but, I tells you what Mr. Dumbledore always says, he says he is old enough to know better and too young to care. So that is my answer too."

Harry wasn't too satisfied with this answer but figured there was nothing he could do about it so he changed the subject. "I've been reading about how you can't apparate inside Hogwart's, but something tells me that house elves have no trouble getting around to take care of things."

Pip was so happy that Harry changed the subject he just blurted it out. "The wards on the school are for spells and such, but not natural ability like house elves and phoenixes." Pip glanced around nervously and said "Oops, Pip shouldn't have said that."

"Are you saying that there's a chance I might could do it?" Harry said as he got a little excited.

"I is not saying no more on that." Pip folded his arms in an uncharacteristically stubborn way. "Ask something else."

"Fine, I'll ask something else, but when I get to school I'm gonna find out how to apparate and do it on my own."

Pip just glared at him and said, "If you gets yourself splinched I isn't gonna help you."

"Splinched? Whats that?" Harry asked.

"Well, splinched is when you apparates but only takes part of you to where you want to go. It takes a lot to put somebody back together when they does that."

Harry got a very apprehensive look at the thought. After erasing the image of an arm and a leg left behind from his head, he continued in a serious tone with a new question. "Okay, so tell me about Voldemort. I can't find any history on him. Who was he before he went dark?"

"You is too curious for your own good." Pip said getting angry.

"Come on, you said you were there when he was a student. He killed my parents and he tried to kill me, is still trying to some people say. I deserve to know this, don't I?"

"Errrr," Pip growled, "alright, I will tells you. He was a scheming little boy that gots people to talk about things they shouldn't." Pip sighed as he lowered his head, the knowledge weighing heavily on him. "His name was Tom Riddle. He was at Hogwart's maybes fifty years ago. He was raised in a muggle orphanage because his mum, who was a witch died and his father, who was a muggle, disowned him. He was very very angry, about everything. But he keeps that to himself. But most of us house elves knows. We knows what he did at school. We knows about the time he framed another student for the bad things that was happening. But we wasn't allowed to say. That person still suffers some from that."

"Really? Who was it? Is there any way we can help him?" Harry was getting a little anxious.

"He..." Pip stated, shifting nervously in his seat, afraid of opening a bigger can of worms, "He is the one that rescued you from the bad Dursley's."

"Hagrid? He framed Hagrid? We gotta do something. Hagrid is the only adult I really trust. It ain't right."

"Harry you has a good heart, but a house elves word ain't no good in court," Pip said, looking at the floor. "Most wizards don't listens to us house elves."

"That sucks," Harry said as he vowed to find a way to help his large friend. "Go on, anything else about Tom Riddle?"

"Not much, he was using his other name for a while before that happened. But after he left Hogwart's, he begins to change. He was nasty in school, but he gots real dark then. He even looked different. When he started to take over his face looked more like ... more like your little snake friend. But not cutes like Archimedes ... nasty!"

A vivid image came to Harry's mind spurred by Pip's words. It was of a pale face with a snub, snake like nose. There were unblinking, red, glowing, slit-pupiled eyes. It was followed by a high pitched laugh and a flash of green light. Harry let out a frightened yell. "I remember Pip! I remember what he looks like," Harry said through moist eyes and slightly ragged breath.

"Is you alright Master Harry?" Pip asked worriedly.

"I'll be okay, thanks Pip. But can you tell me why he came after my parents? What happened? It doesn't make sense," Harry responded, wiping his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"Well, tis said there's a prophecy about you and him. Thats why your parents was in hiding to protect you." Pip started getting really nervous but Harry just sat there open mouthed.

"I knew my parents were protecting me, but this is too much." After a few minutes, Harry spoke again. "What did the prophecy say? I gotta know this."

"Then yous must ask Professor Dumbledore, we house elves ain't allowed to be talking about that. I is sorry Master Harry, but that is the rule. We keeps our master's secrets. Now, it is getting on about one o'clock, I will gets you your lunch. and then I will gets things ready for your friends," Pip said apologetically.

After lunch Harry went out to the garden to work and think on things until Moody, Nat and her friends got there. As Harry weeded, watered, and sprinkled fertilizer around, he knew would have to have a very long talk with Dumbledore. How could he let Hagrid suffer at all if he knew the truth. The wizard court needed to change from the sound of things. Harry decided he would definitely be spending time in the law section of Hogwart's library.

Moody was the first to arrive. He sat on the sofa chatting with Harry waiting for Nat and her friends to show up.

"Harry, thanks to your idea, I've started writing about my experiences. I'm gonna get a ghost writer to fix it up when I'm done with the general stuff. What do ya think?" Moody asked a little excitedly.

"That's a great idea Mr. Moody, I would definitely read it," Harry said as he wondered if he meant a real ghost.

"Just call me Moody, Harry, I ain't comfortable with mister." Moody said back. "You sure you and your friends wanna hear my stories? I ain't too good at story tellin. Thats why I need a ghost writer."

"Sure thing Moody, now my friend Nat is a witch, but she's bringing some muggles with her who know about us. So I'm sure they will love it, nothing like this probably ever happens to them," Harry said when the doorbell rang.

Pip showed Nat and her friends into the sitting room. Harry introduced himself and Moody, then Nat introduced her friends. First was a boy with expressive eyes and shaggy brown hair. Nat introduced him as Johnny. Nat then pointed to a girl with straight shoulder length brown hair, her name was Paulette. She then moved on to another girl with wavy dark blond hair, her name was Georgianna, but everyone called her Ge-ge. The last friend was a pale boy with long blue hair, dark clothes and various piercings. The spiked dog collar around his neck made him look rather feral, but his eyes were as friendly and curious as the rest of them." This is Rick, he's from Australia. He looks like a stray, so we call him Dingo." Nat's eyes twinkled and Rick smiled at the shared joke.

Nat had brought some chocolate frogs, some butterbeer, and some pumpkin juice. Pip had setup various chips and dips for everyone. Harry ordered a large amount of pizza too. Everyone was relaxed when Moody started his story.

"Well, I don't know how good I can tell this, but here goes." Moody started with a short explanation of Voldemort and his reign of terror as he gained more power. This was new to the muggles, and certainly the most interesting way Nat had ever heard it. They all sat in rapt attention. Moody started getting in to spirit, he gestured broadly. His magickal eye rotated, always scanning for potential danger. When he got to an intense part it would swivel toward his audience, boring into them.

"This was from a time not long after Voldemort was done in by young Harry here." Harry blushed at that. "Anyways, we had just caught a deatheater who wouldn't talk about what was going on. Those were what Voldemort called his followers. This one was a slimy little git. Took us a half hour to catch him. Kept apparating all over the place, luckily we were able to follow. Every time we would get close and put up an anti-apparition charm, he would send curses flying our way. We would have to duck or block. But it always gave him enough time to get out of range of the charm and apparate again. Finally we surrounded him and all of us together were able to put up an anti-apparation charm large enough to hold him. Thats when he threw a dust bin lid at me. I wasn't quick enough to duck, and it gave me this scar," he said as he pointed to small two inch scar on his forehead. "but that gave another auror enough time to stun him."

"When we got him back to the ministry he wouldn't talk. But they left me alone with him for a bit. Couldn't use the unforgivable curses, but we could scare him, this was before I got my eye. Now thats a story all its own. Anyways, I was threatening him with removal of his appendages, that I would make him look like me." Moody showed them his wooden leg and Moody's wickedly mirthful smile looked sinister on the scarred face, but his natural eye twinkled. "He started talking once I told him that ole dorkmort was gone and wouldn't be helping him. Voldy couldn't stop me if I was to take off a few parts off of one of his followers. The git told us that a few other deatheaters were goin after the Longbottom's, to try and find the location of their fallen lord. The Longbottom's had a kid about your age Harry, anyways, we took off to the Longbottom's place. We caught 'em alright, but it was too late, they had tortured the both of them for information. They had used the cruciatus curse. Thats one of the unforgivables. They tortured them to insanity."

Moody paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Real sad case too, the Longbottom kid was raised by his Gran. Last I heard he wasn't too magickal, didn't show any promise until he was 7 or 8 I think. Seems one of his uncles dropped him on his head and he bounced. His Gran was happy, but I don't know what became of him since."

They all stared wide eyed as the old man went on. "I thinks thats about all the yappin I can do in a night," Moody said as he took a swig from his flask and started to get up. They all protested, wanting to hear about his adventures.

"Hey wait," Harry said stopping him,. He didn't want this first party to brake up so soon. "It's still early, could you show us the unforgivables? At least maybe show us how to throw off the imperius that I read about. That one shouldn't hurt us."

"Well I don't know," Moody said then got a mischievous look in his eye, "alright, you need to know these things, and the ministry won't let you learn 'em at school."

"Yeah," both Harry and Nat said in unison. The quartet of muggle children looked excited about the chance to witness serious magick.

"Alright Harry, you read about them, how much do you know?" Moody began.

"Well, I know that the _cruciatus_ is supposed to hurt really bad, I guess really really bad if you can go insane from it. The _imperius_ is suppose to make you not care about anything so that you're open to do what ever you're told by the caster, and the last one, _avada kadavra_, is the killing curse. when cast properly, you just die instantly, and no ones ever survived it."

"No one but you my boy," Moody said proudly, patting Harry on the back.

Harry blushed red as a strawberry, "Really? Thats how my parents..." Harry trailed off, his eyes starting to get moist.

"That's okay Harry, they did it to protect you, and I know right now they would be proud of you," Moody said trying to make him feel better. Getting back to business. "Alright Harry, you wanna go first on the imperius? If you can throw it off, they'll never get you to do anything you don't want to."

"Okay," Harry said as he calmly stood in the middle of the floor, waiting. Harry liked the sound of never being forced to do things that weren't his idea, he focused on his determination, trying to ready himself. He nodded. "Ready."

"Alright Harry, just concentrate," Moody said before casting the curse.

Harry felt strange, like he didn't care about anything in the world. Everything felt at peace and wonderful. He heard a voice tell him to flap his arms and make a chicken sound, which Harry felt it sounded reasonable. This voice seemed to be where the cozy well being was radiating from and part of him wanted to stay in this bliss. He was going to raise his arms, but some where deep in his mind, Harry realised this feeling was foreign to him. He had never felt like this fuzzy peace before, it didn't make sense. His mind had always been his safe refuge, his territory and some one trespassing was not acceptable. A stubborn anger started to well up, slowly burning away the blissful clouds. Harry stood there calm and defiant. "No, I don't want to." The last of the blissfulness cleared away.

"I'll be damned, threw it off like nothing the first try," Moody said his normal eye trying to match the size of his other. He let out a long, low whistle. "I'll say it again, your parents ARE proud of you, I just know it." Moody gave Harry a slight hug and a rough but approving slap on the back.

Harry smiled and sat down as the shocked crowd just looked on. It was then Nat's turn. It took her about 4 times, but she was then able to throw it off as well. Moody then taught them a few defensive spells, using Nat's muggle friends as guinea pigs, well only one. Dingo was the only one willing.

"Cool, mate, zap me!" the punk goth stray said.

Pip removed all the cushions from the couch and gathered up all the pillows. With a safe area to land in, every one enjoyed seeing Dingo fly across the room. He seemed to get a thrill out of having spells cast on him, even if it did leave a couple small bruises. Once the novelty wore off, they stopped for the night. Moody had allowed this to go on just long enough to be sure Dingo wouldn't seek out wizards just to be 'zapped'.

It was getting on to midnight when Moody left. Nat said she would see Harry either on the train or at school on Monday, and then she and her friends left as well. Harry went to bed completely happy. He had had a good time with his new friends and the nervousness about school was all but gone. Pip was smiling proudly as he watched with affection a happy eleven year old cuddling his stuffed dragon as he slept. Yes indeed, Harry's parents were watching him with pride as well. The boy-who-lived just might be okay after all.


	13. Hogwart's Express

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_Thanks for the reviews. Some have asked while I spell magick with a k, I've done some research into the word. It's original spelling was 'magik', but my reasoning is much the same as the modern spelling is becoming. Magic is mostly used to indicate the illusions done in Las Vegas, while magick generally refers to the soft science of metaphysics. That is my reason, and it has become habit for me to spell it that way, and I don't intend to change, as I'm not the only one using that spelling. Hope that clears it up. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review. Thanks. _

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**"Chapter 13, "Hogwart's Express"**

The remaining days before school Harry spent looking at the pictures of his parents. Harry had asked Pip how they moved. A special potion was used to develop the film. It allowed the general state of mind of the person at the time the photo was taken to show through in movement. Pip also told Harry that a different type of potion was used with painted portraits. It caused the painting to be imbibed with the personality and much of the memories of the subject. Harry added finding a portrait of his parents to his list of things to do once he became more familiar with the wizarding world.

September first finally arrived and Harry was up early. Pip made a superb breakfast and Harry was glad this kind of food was going to be served at school. Much better than the food at his primary school.

Harry got the last of his things together and then started to get dressed. He looked at himself in the mirror. He had filled out some with the workouts and such. He definitely wasn't as small and puny as the start of summer. His arm still had the cast on though, and hurt some if he bumped it too hard. He had to be careful. He also knew the doctor, or healer as Pip informed him, would be angry with him for hurting it more. At least he knew she wouldn't be angry like Uncle Vernon, she would be upset out of concern for him. That he could easily deal with.

He chose some jeans, his new trainers, and a comic book t-shirt, with _The Punisher_ skull emblazoned on it. Harry liked _The Punisher_. He wanted so bad to punish the one who had killed his parents. Hopefully if he trained well, one day he would.

Harry grabbed his jacket and went down stairs to wait for the cab. Pip brought his trunk and Kleo's cage down. She had decided to fly to Hogwart's, so as not to disturb the muggle driver.

"Yous bes okay Master Harry?" Pip asked once the trunk and cage were on the porch.

"I'll be alright, the cab should be here soon. I'll see you at school then," Harry responded as Pip waved goodbye and disappeared.

Harry started carrying his trunk and cage toward the street when he saw the cab pull up. He got a little angry when the driver honked the horn as he could clearly see Harry.

The driver got out and said, "'ey, hurry up you, 'aven't got all day," and went around to open the boot.

Even though the trunk was light because of the charm, the bulkiness was a little hard for him to manage. Harry lifted the trunk up a little higher so he could walk a little easier and set the trunk down at the driver's feet.

"Couldn't give a kid with a broken arm a hand could you?" Harry said annoyed.

"You had it though, didn't ya? A strong little runt are ya?" The driver said as he made to lift the trunk and cage into the boot.

Harry got angry at that and slipped his wand out so the man couldn't see and tapped the trunk, making it quite a bit heavier.

The man got a little flustered struggling with it, but finally got it in. He then looked at Harry strangely. "How did, oh never bloody mind, get in."

Harry just smiled politely and got into the cab. "Kings Cross Station, please," Harry requested and they left.

"Off to school are ya? Seem a little small for comprehensive," the driver said getting rude again.

"Could you please just drive?" Harry responded in a huff.

"Oh, is the ickle firstie getting mad? Gonna beat me up is he?"

Harry just held his tongue, as the ride would be over soon.

Soon enough, they arrived at the station and got out. While the driver went to get a trolley, Harry quickly got out and tapped the trunk again making it heavier still. He chuckled to himself as the driver almost couldn't get the trunk out of the boot.

"Blimey, what the hell you got in here?" the driver said as he could barely even push the trolley once it was loaded.

"Oh, just stuff for school," Harry said politely as he paid the driver. "Keep the change." Harry tapped the trunk again as he grabbed the trolley and pushed it with ease toward the platforms. "Have a nice day," Harry called back as the stunned driver just climbed into the cab and left.

Harry pulled out his ticket and looked for the platform number. Harry got scared then as the ticket clearly said Platform 9 and 3/4. "Oh shit," Harry mumbled to himself. There was no such platform. He should have checked earlier so he could have asked Pip, but now it was too late. Harry looked around at all the people and started to panic. It was getting close to eleven o'clock. What should he do, take out his wand and tap the ticket box? He couldn't do that in public.

Then he heard a plump woman surrounded by a load of kids, all with bright red hair, say the word muggle. He quickly followed them hoping to hear more.

They stopped and the lady said, "what's the platform number? oh yes nine and three quarters."

"I wanna go to," said the girl holding the woman's hand.

"Not this year dear, now Percy, you go first," the woman said to a tall, skinny boy that appeared to be the oldest.

He walked toward the barrier between the two platforms and Harry watched carefully not to miss anything. A crowd walked by just as Percy reached the barrier and by the time Harry could see properly again he was gone.

"Alright, Fred you next," she told one of a set of twins.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy, "honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother. Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy and off he went, quickly followed by his twin.

First they were there, then the next second, they were gone. How had they done it? Time to ask. "Excuse me," Harry said to the woman in his most polite voice, adding a bit of puppy eyes for good measure.

"Oh, Hullo there dear. First time at Hogwart's? Its Ron's first time as well." She gestured to the last boy who was tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet and a long nose.

"Yes, but, er," Harry replied, "the thing is, I, er, I don't know how to..."

"How to get onto the platform?" she said in a kind way that made Harry think, 'this is how it must be to have a mum'. Harry nodded and she said, "Not to worry dear, all you have to do is walk straight at the divider between the platforms. Don't be scared you'll crash and don't stop either. That's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if your nervous, you and Ron go together, how about that?"

Harry looked at her sheepishly. "Thank you, you've been very kind."

"Not at all dear, go ahead."

Harry and Ron grinned at each other then took off heading straight for the barrier. Harry didn't even blink as they went through. It was unbelievable, one moment they were heading for the wall, next they were on the platform staring at a beautiful scarlet steam engine with a large sign that read Hogwart's Express.

The platform was truly a sight to behold. Cats of every type were weaving amongst the packed platform. Owls were hooting to each other as young wizards and witches made their way to the train. A few of the compartments were already full, with a few students poking their heads out of the windows talking to their families.

Harry quickly made his way through the crowd to the train. Although his trunk was lighter than normal, its bulkiness combined with an unusually warm day and his broken arm were giving Harry some trouble. He had been working out some, but the results he had achieved were only minor because of his arm. How he wished he could show off and just shrink his trunk right there.

"Want a hand with that?" one of the redheaded twins from earlier said.

"Please," Harry replied, thankful for some help.

"Where's your pet bird?" the other twin asked as he loaded up the empty cage.

"Kleo, that's her name, flew on ahead. Didn't want to be pinned up for the whole trip I guess. She's a black and white owl, so I figured she would have some fun not having anything to deliver," Harry said as he pushed his sweaty hair off his forehead.

"Blimey," said one twin noticing Harry's scar, "are you?"

"He is," said the other twin, "aren't you?"

"Who?" said Harry knowing who they probably meant.

"Harry Potter," they said in unison.

"Uh, yeah that's me," Harry said as it sunk in that he really was famous. This might be a problem he thought.

He started to go red as they stared at him. Luckily their mum called through the window.

"Fred, George, are you there?"

"Coming, mum," the twins said as they exited leaving Harry alone in the compartment.

Harry sat looking out the window as the twins went out to meet their mum.

"Mum, you'll never guess who the black haired boy with the broken arm from the station is," began one twin.

"It's Harry Potter," continued the second twin.

Harry pulled back from looking out the window and hid as he heard the little girl's voice.

"Oh mum, i wanna get on the train and see him," the little girl pleaded.

"You've already seen him, Ginny, he isn't some animal in a zoo. How did you find out who he was Fred?"

"Asked him. We saw his scar too, it's really there, just like lightning."

"Poor dear, I was wondering why he was alone. He was so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform. I guess the rumors going around are true too, about his uncle beating him."

"I wonder what his uncle did to him," said Fred

"Better yet, I wonder if he can remember what you-know-who looks like," George added.

"Enough you two, you leave the poor boy alone, and I better not get anymore owls telling me you've blown up a toilet or anything," she warned the twins.

"We've never blown up a toilet."

"Great idea though, thanks mum."

"It's not funny, and look after you little brother, and if you would, maybe you should keep an eye on Harry too, the dear."

"Oh don't worry mum, we'll gladly look after Harry, and ickle Ronniekins will be safe with us."

"Shut up," Ron said angrily at his brothers, who weren't much taller than him.

The train whistle sounded, and the three boys quickly climbed on board and went back to Harry's compartment.

They were waving goodbye out the window and Ginny started to cry.

"Don't cry Ginny, we'll send you lots of owls," began Fred

"And a Hogwart's toilet seat," George continued.

Their mum just stared hard at them as the train started to pull out.

"Just kidding mum," they both said, but Ginny did stop crying a little and was starting to giggle, she really looked up to her twin big brothers.

Once the train was moving they all settled back into their seats.

-

"So, your uncle beat you? That bloody sucks," George said.

"Yeah, you should have cursed him," Fred continued.

"That's just it, I didn't know about magick until Hagrid rescued me. Those idiots even told me I got my scar in a car crash that killed my parents. I had no clue, thats why I've been studying like crazy since i got my books a month ago." Harry was starting to get a little angry at the memory but calmed himself down.

The three redheads just stared. Ron finally broke the silence.

"Names Ron, Ron Weasley. I hope things are looking better now you're back in the wizarding world."

"Thanks, I think they are. Now to make it official, I'm Harry, Harry Potter."

"I'm Fred, this here's George, the little girl back there is our little sister Ginny. We have an annoying brother who happens to be a prefect this year. We also have two older brothers, Bill and Charlie, but they already left Hogwart's. Bill works for Gringott's in Egypt, and Charlie works with Dragons in Romania. Now the one telling us to blow up a toilet was our mum, Molly. Our father's name is Arthur, he loves muggles. He'll probably talk your ear off when he meets you. So now that that's out of the way tell us your story."

Harry just sat a little dumbfounded at the speech. He would later find out that it would be the most any one twin would say at once.

"Well, the Dursley's, Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, she's my mum's sister, and my cousin Dudley, have been the pains in my arse for the last ten years. Uncle Vernon was also responsible for this," Harry said as he held up his cast covered left arm. "The healer from school did her best, but I think I hurt it more, the leg cast disappeared a few days ago."

"He broke your leg too? I can't believe it," Ron said as he stared wide eyed.

"Yeah, well, I don't know what to think anymore. My aunt and cousin started to come round, but I don't think it will last. My uncle was in a bit of shock last time I saw him. An auror named Moody threatened him for what he did to me. I actually talked him out of cursing him. I'm still not really sure why."

"Mad-eye Moody visited you?" Fred said.

"Thats cool," said George.

"Yeah, visited twice actually, second time he came over and told us a story, oh yeah, I finally made a friend, my first friend actually because my cousin kept that from happening as I grew up. She brought some of her muggle friends over."

"Is someone talking about me?" said a voice by the door.

"Hey Nat," Harry said.

"Better watch out for these two," she said gesturing to the twins, "they'll get you in trouble or worse if you're not careful."

"Who us?" they both said looking innocent.

"Yeah, you." She then glanced toward the younger redhead. "I take it you're Ron? How do you live with these two?"

"It ain't easy, but I manage," Ron said smiling while he shook her offered hand. "Please to meet ya."

"Likewise. You doin alright Harry?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, my arms been botherin me a bit but I do alright."

"You two twits wanna come with me to say hi to Lee?" Nat said to the twins who nodded and followed her out.

After a minute of silence, Harry got up.

"Might as well change into my robes now," Harry said as he went to his trunk.

Harry picked up Kleo's cage from where it was sitting on top of his trunk. He quickly dropped it as a sharp pain shot through his arm. He let out a yell as he grabbed his arm and angry tears began to form in his eyes. When he moved his right hand up to grab his left arm, the emotional magick pouring out of him pushed his trunk against the wall of the compartment with a loud thud.

Ron rushed to his side as Harry cradled his injured arm and sat back down.

"Harry, you okay? What happened?" Ron said quickly.

"I sometimes lose control of my magick. I thought I had it under control, but when I picked up the cage, I lifted it wrong with my left hand. Man did it hurt, I don't know if I can wait until after the welcoming feast to see Madame Pompfrey."

"Here, take a swallow of this," Ron said as he pulled a small vial from his pocket. "I gotta keep a pain relieving potion around with brothers like Fred and George," Ron said as he noticed the odd look Harry gave him.

"Thanks," Harry said as he took a sip from the vial and immediately felt better. "Wow, works fast."

"Yep, never know what to expect from those two."

They both started to change into their robes, but when Harry took off his shirt revealing the scars and bruises, Ron gasped.

"Oh my god, your uncle did that?" Ron blurted out without thinking, then said, "Sorry about that, I just never, er, I don't um, do they hurt?"

"No, not really, and it's okay, I was hoping they would have healed by now, but I guess they'll still take some time, and I'm not gonna hide, even though the questions will probably get annoying, so, er, yeah, its okay mate."

Eager to change the subject, Ron noticed Harry's wand holster. "Cool holster, you make it?"

"Nah, I got the idea and then had the house elf that Dumbledore sent make it for me."

"Dumbledore sent you a house elf? That's so cool, wish we had one, but my father works in a small division at the ministry. We don't have much." Ron looked down at his feet.

"What's mine is yours mate. I never had anything but these bruises growing up, no friends, toys or anything. But once I got my letter, turns out my parents left me some money, and since you're the first friend I've made aside from Nat, I want to share."

"I don't want your pity," Ron said in a huff.

"What pity?" Harry replied a little hurt, "I've never had money much less a friend to share it with. It's not pity, its friendship, that is if you want to be my friend."

Ron looked up sheepishly. "Sorry, but, you really want to be my friend?"

"Yeah, sure, how about this, you don't pity me for my bruises, and I won't pity you for how much money you have or don't have, as neither is really our choice, okay? We'll just share what ever it is we got."

"You gotta deal there, mate." Ron held out his hand.

Harry took that hand and said, "oh, please try to play down the-boy-who-lived rubbish, I don't wanna be famous, I know I can't really change it, but you know."

"Sure, no problem Harry," Ron replied as they finished putting on their robes.

It was then that Harry noticed a sizable amount of food packed into his trunk. He began pulling it out, causing Ron to look up.

"What's all that?"

"I guess Pip packed me some food so I wouldn't get too hungry before the feast. He even packed a small mouse for Archimedes."

"Archimedes?" Ron questioned.

"Oops, I shouldn't have said that, but I guess I can trust you, we're best mates right?"

"Yeah, who's Archimedes?"

"He's my pet grass snake, and so you're not surprised, I'm a parselmouth, but please don't call me a dark wizard."

"Mate, I wouldn't do that, you're, well you know who you are, but, I...I think it'll be cool."

"Thanks mate," Harry said and then coaxed Archimedes out of his pocket to eat his mouse.

Ron just watched, and then got a little nervous. "I, er, have a pet rat, Archimedes won't try and eat him will he?" Ron pointed to a very worn looking rat in a cage near his trunk.

"Nah, that rat's way too big, plus I'll tell him not to."

Ron listened intently as Harry spoke parseltongue and gestured toward the rat.

"Thats so cool," Ron said when Harry was done and looked up at him.

"Yeah, he said the rat is too big, plus there seems to be something odd with him. He's not an ordinary garden rat."

"No, I guess not, he's been the family for about 10 years now, he used to belong to Percy, but now he's mine. His name is Scabbers."

"Cool name, it seems to suit him doesn't it?"

"Yeah, anyway how about we tuck into the food, aye?"

Harry grinned and they started to munch on the wonderful food the house elf had packed.

After about fifteen minutes of munching, Ron got an idea. "Hey, Fred and George gave me a spell to turn Scabbers yellow, wanna see?"

"Yeah," Harry said excitedly.

Ron got Scabbers out of his cage and sat down with him on his lap. He cleared his throat and was about to start when a girl with bushy brown hair and large front teeth came in.

"Excuse me, but have you two seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one, oh, are you doing magick? Let's see then." She then plopped down as if she owned the place.

Ron cleared his throat again. "Sunshine daisy, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow."

Scabbers flashed yellow as Ron touched his wand tip to the rat, but it didn't hold for longer than half a second.

"Is that a real spell? it's not very good is it? I've tried a few spells on my own and they've all worked for me. In fact I've memorized all my books. Everyone in my family was surprised when I got my letter. My name is Hermione Granger, by the way."

"Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter."

"Really? You're in 'Hogwart's: A History', I've read all about you."

"Yeah, I know, I'm supposed to be all famous, but I would like to make my own way thank you. I've also memorized all of my school books as well as a few extra, and Ron's transfiguration spell seems sound. It should have worked." Harry was getting annoyed at Miss know-it-all.

"I didn't mean anything, I'm sorry," Hermione apologized.

Seeing the hurt look on Hermione's face, Harry got embarrassed at his outburst. "I'm sorry too, I just had a rough go of it before I got my letter. Sometimes my anger gets the best of me."

"Its alright Harry. Can we still be friends? You wanna talk about what happened?"

"Er, okay, but if I tell you, no pity alright? I just want you to know truth before the rumors start."

Harry then told them both the semi-short version of his life. Hermione wanted to pity him, but promised she wouldn't.

"Now to change the subject," Harry began, "I wanna try that spell, okay Ron?"

"Sure," Ron said as he handed Scabbers over to Harry who proceeded with the spell..

Scabbers stayed yellow for a couple of seconds this time. Then Hermione, getting excited at a puzzle, tried as well. With her Scabbers stayed yellow for about a second.

"Hang on," Harry said as he pulled out a piece of parchment.

"Sunshine daisy, butter mellow, turn this stupid parchment yellow," Harry said as he touched his wand to the tan parchment which turned a bright yellow instantly. "See? I told you it followed proper transfiguration rules. Perhaps it doesn't work on animals."

"Well it worked better with you guys at least. Mind if I study with you guys? My mum will kill me if I don't get good marks," Ron said.

Harry and Hermione both nodded.

"Remind me to ask Professor McGonagall about this spell, would you Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I would like to know myself," Hermione said.

Just then a round faced boy poked his head in. "Oh there you are, did you find my toad?" he asked hopefully.

"No, not yet. Harry, Ron, this is Neville, the boy I told you about before. Neville this is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."

Neville's eyes got big at that. "You're Harry Potter?"

"Yeah, but don't do that Neville. If you treat me like everyone else, you can join our little study group, okay?"

"Really?" the shy boy asked as he came in and sat down with his new friends.

"Yeah, in fact I might be able to help find your toad, if, as our new friend, you can keep a secret," Harry said.

"Yes, please, I can keep a secret," Neville begged.

"Alright," Harry said as he brought Archimedes out from his pocket. Harry gave a few hisses at the snake who then hissed back. Hermione and Neville couldn't believe their eyes. Neville got scared when Harry jumped up and walked quickly to him. He then bent down and reached under the seat where Neville was sitting and pulled out a large toad.

"Trevor," Neville squealed with delight.

Hermione's shock faded to a knowing smile. "Good use of resources, Harry. Parseltongue may be associated with dark wizards, but it doesn't mean you have to become one. You just proved it by using it to help a friend," she said in a superior tone of voice.

Harry blushed as Ron and Neville smiled.

"Can you find out why he keeps running away?" Neville had a sudden thought.

"I'll try," Harry said and started hissing back and forth with Archimedes. The snake hissed at the toad, who croaked some and then Archimedes hissed back at Harry who just burst out laughing.

"What? What did he say?" Neville asked.

Harry giggled some more as he went over to Nevile and rubbed him roughly between the eyes.

"Ouch, Harry, quit it," Neville complained.

"That," he said, "is why he runs away." Harry then rubbed Neville just above his stomach.

Neville made a noise much like purring, causing everyone to laugh and Neville to blush furiously.

"He would much prefer that if you must pet him," Harry said to a very red Neville.

A lady with a cart pulled up outside the cabin and said, "Anything off the trolley dears?"

"This ones on me guys, to celebrate our new friendships," Harry said as he pulled out a bunch of coins and said, "We'll take the lot."

They all dug into the treats as well as finishing off what Pip had sent. They were talking and laughing and having a grand time. Harry showed them the pictures of his parents. They were all getting so close Harry asked them if they wanted to form a small club just for them, and call it The Marauders, just like his dad. They all quickly agreed, and not just because it was Harry Potter, no, it was deeper than that. During the last 2 hours of talking they were inspired by Harry's confidence and personality. They truly had become close friends.

The good times couldn't last though, as a boy familiar to Harry walked in followed by two very large ugly goons.

"So, is it true?" The boy sneered. "People are saying Harry Potter has finally come to Hogwart's. Hey, I remember you from the robe shop."

"Yes, I'm Harry Potter. These are my friends, and if you don't have anything nice to say, I suggest you leave."

"You didn't know who I was before, so now I'll tell so you can't use that as an excuse. I'm Draco Malfoy. You had better be nice to me Potter, my family is very powerful."

"Oh yeah," Harry responded, "I've read about your family. Dark wizards, the lot of them. Big supporters of Voldemort."

Everyone jumped when Harry said the name.

"How dare you say the name of the most powerful wizard ever!" Malfoy said angrily.

"I dare because Dumbledore is supposed to be more powerful, but more importantly, I am not afraid of that git. I stopped him once, and if he shows his ugly face again, I'll stop him again." Harry said his anger getting the better of him, his green eyes flaring with emerald fire.

Malfoy got a little scared but didn't back down. "Let's see, crappy robes and red hair, you must be a Weasley. People said there was a muggle born on board that looked like a bushy beaver, and you must be a Longbottom with your stupid toad. They said you can't do magick at all. Crabbe, Goyle, teach Potter a lesson. Then we'll deal with the weasel, mudblood, and squib."

"That's it," Harry yelled as he stood up. Before the goons could get into the compartment, he brought his arm up, his wand jumping into his hand from under his sleeve. "**_Stupefy, Stupefy_**," he cried out, and Crabbe and Goyle landed in a heap on the floor.

Malfoy was scared as he thought Harry was aiming at him. When he looked through the doorway at his friends on the floor, the door slammed shut. He spun back at Harry who had his other hand up pointing at the door. Malfoy quickly pulled out his own wand.

"**_Expelliarmus_**," Harry said forcefully with anger in his eyes the moment Malfoy had gone for his wand.

The wand flew out of Malfoy's hand and was easily caught by Harry. Harry then pointed his wand right between Malfoy's wide eyes. "What the bloody hell did I tell you back at the robe shop? Let me tell you this." Harry pocketed Malfoy's wand and then grabbed Malfoy by the neck and pushed him against the wall. He spoke very slowly and sternly as he said, "I AM MORE POWERFUL THAN THAT IDIOT THAT KILLED MY PARENTS."

A puddle had formed between Malfoy's feet. He was shaking visibly now as well.

When Harry saw this he calmed down and lowered his wand. "You just better not insult my friends anymore, Malfoy. I won't put up with it. Now get out."

Malfoy slapped Harry's arm away from his throat, grabbed his wand back and took off.

Harry screamed out and grabbed his cast in pain again. "Damn him, that bloody hurts," Harry said through gritted teeth as a few tears ran down his cheeks.

Ron quickly rushed to his aid and handed him the vial of pain reliever. "Here, take the rest of this, mate. What's mine is yours remember?"

Harry gratefully accepted the potion and downed it. "I'm tellin ya, I hate bullies. You guys realise that's all Wormymort really was? Just a bully. That's why I've been practising so hard."

Hermione, who suddenly realised the magick Harry had just used, said, "Harry, how'd you learn those spells?"

Ron and Neville nodded as Harry sat back down and explained how Moody had taught him some defensive spells just in case.

Their good mood returned shortly as they chatted more about this and that. But the good time ended again as the train slowed to a stop. Harry looked out the door to find Crabbe and Goyle still out cold on the floor. He quickly revived them and they walked stupidly away.

"What if they report you?" Hermione asked concerned.

"They won't, they're followers. Malfoy might talk, but I doubt anyone would believe him. It'll be okay, Hermione, sometimes you have to stand up to bullies, no matter what." Harry smiled as he led them off the train.

They looked up in awe at the castle that loomed over them. A new adventure awaits.


	14. The Good, The Bad, And THE Harry

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_Sorry this took so long, I was trying to wrap up revenge, which still isn't done, plus I am looking for work. Anyway I hope you like this one, it took me a while, multiple writers blocks on parts. Thanks for the reviews._

_**Mercuryacidandwater:** Harry's little problem will get worse before it gets better._

_**Athenakitty:** it might swap back and forth; I like Trevor, so probably; kinda, but Draco is stubborn too, so, not too much; and not too much with some of the teachers because of what he had to live with. but the students, maybe a little more so than cannon in some spots._

_**Gryffindors: ** I was using a k do differentiate between metaphysics and las Vegas stage shows. But the original spelling of the word is magik, according to the dictionaries I found online, but I've decided to just use the c for my stories, although in everything else, I will spell it magik._

_**Draco'slovergirlforever: ** Glad to hear it._

_**Hermione21:** One word, Absolutely. and if you have any ideas, i would appreciate it, im not great on pranks like that myself._

_**Schnuff:** Yep, I plan on finishing all of them, well except for the single one shot I wrote, which is already done._

_**HecateDemort:** Thanks, I like it too._

_Now on with the show._

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 14 "The Good, The Bad, And THE Harry"**

_--Previously in chapter 13--_

_Their good mood returned shortly as they chatted more about this and that. But the good time ended again as the train slowed to a stop. Harry looked out the door to find Crabbe and Goyle still out cold on the floor. He quickly revived them and they walked stupidly away._

_"What if they report you?" Hermione asked concerned._

_"They won't, they're followers. Malfoy might talk, but I doubt anyone would believe him. It'll be okay, Hermione, sometimes you have to stand up to bullies, no matter what." Harry smiled as he led them off the train._

_They looked up in awe at the castle that loomed over them. A new adventure awaits..._

"Firs' years, this way, firs' years," came a bellowing voice that Harry recognized immediately.

"Hagrid!" Harry yelled as he ran over and hugged the large man who had saved him a month ago.

"Hullo there 'arry, how you been?" he asked as Harry pulled away smiling.

"Good," Harry said, then introduced his friends who finally caught up to him.

Hagrid gathered all the first years and led them to little boats that seemed to float on the glass like surface of the lake. Harry and his three friends got into one boat, as the rest of the first years got into others, and they were off. They glided across the lake and into an tunnel that seemed to go right under the castle. They came to a stop in an underground harbour, and clambered out onto the rocks and pebbles.

Hagrid led them up a passageway that opened up to damp grass in front of the castle, and on up stone steps to a large oak door. When Hagrid knocked three times with his large fist, it opened to reveal an older witch with her hair up in a bun. She appeared to be one you would not wish to cross.

"Here are the firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said with pride as he gave Harry a glance.

"Thank you, Hagrid. Everyone, follow me," she said with a friendly, yet firm voice.

Harry was amazed at the entrance hall. It was huge. He was led with his schoolmates to a small room off the main hall. They all huddled together at the immenseness of it all. Harry could feel the magic surrounding and penetrating the castle.

"Welcome to Hogwart's," McGonagall said as she surveyed the students, her eyes lingering for a moment on Harry, bringing a barely noticeable smile. "Before the start of term banquet, you will be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. While you are here, the houses will be your family of sorts. You will have classes with your house-mates, sleep in the house dorm, and spend free time in the house common room. At the end of the year, the house cup is awarded to the house with the most points. Triumphs will earn points, and rule breaking will lose points. The sorting ceremony will take place shortly in front of the school. I will return when we are ready for you, I suggest you smarten yourselves up a bit," she said and left.

"Man, this is gonna be so cool," Harry said to Ron. "Any idea how they do the sorting?" Harry continued as he concentrated on the magical streams throughout the room.

"No idea mate, Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking. I hope he was joking," Ron replied.

Everyone had been chatting about the sorting when about 20 ghosts floated into the room, causing everyone to jump. Harry lost his concentration for a moment, and felt something odd pressing in on him. An odd bit of magic, trying to sneak up and latch onto him. He didn't like it one bit, and pushed it back. He noticed no one else seem to feel it.

"Hey, Ron. Did you just feel that?" he asked his new mate.

"Feel what?" Ron mumbled, focusing on the ghosts along with the other first years.

"That's odd," Harry mumbled to himself, and let it pass.

The ghosts then seem to notice the children. "Ah, first years. What a grand time for you," one of them said.

The hairs on the back of Harry's neck prickled, as the ghosts suddenly turned their attention to the smaller than average boy with the broken arm. Harry just glared at them, for some reason he wasn't afraid.

They seemed a little worried, and hurried along their way through the wall opposite from where they came.

McGonagall then reappeared, and said, "we're ready for you now." Her gaze caught Harry's eye, and she seemed almost startled, but quickly led the way to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was magnificent. Four tables with the other older students already seated lined the hall parallel to each other. At the back was another table that ran perpendicular to the other four. Dumbledore sat at the center with various teachers on either side of him.

The first years were led up front of the other students to where an old hat sat on a small stool. Harry thought maybe they would have to pull a rabbit out of the hat or something, when a tear opened up near the brim like a mouth and then the hat began to sing.

I admit that I am worn  
But I have seen a lot  
the task is left to me  
to find for you a spot  
all houses have their good  
as well they have their bad  
i can help you choose  
the future that will be had

the house of Slytherin  
with colours silver and green  
are cunning and sly  
and feel the ends justifies the means

the house of Gryffindor  
with colours of red and gold  
have courage and strength  
and stand firm and bold

the house of Ravenclaw  
with colours of bronze and blue  
are thinking and smart  
and know what to do

the house of Hufflepuff  
with colours of yellow and black  
are loyal and true  
and always got your back

when you come to me  
and you put me on  
I'll sort you out  
and tell you where you belong

The hall applauded when the song was done, but went quiet when McGonagall spoke. "When I call your name, you will come and sit on the stool, and place the sorting hat on your head to be sorted." With that, she began to read off names from a scroll in alphabetical order.

Harry noticed that sometimes the hat would call out a house quickly, while other times it took a while. His friend Hermione was put into Ravenclaw. His other friend Neville was put into Hufflepuff. Harry started to get a little sad that he wouldn't be able to spend time with them in the common rooms. Perhaps he could at least choose where Ron would be, but he wouldn't know that until after, being the W's came after the P's.

Then he saw the hat call out Slytherin before it even touched the blond head of that git Draco Malfoy, who just smirked. Harry started getting nervous then. He wanted to spend time with his new friends, but he also wanted to be able to learn as much as he could. He didn't want to be pushed around anymore.

Before he could think anymore he heard his name called. The entire room went silent. Not a sound as everyone waited with baited breath, while Harry nervously made his way to the little stool. He put the hat on his head as he sat down and gripped the edges of the stool.

All he saw was the blackness of the inside of the hat. Then, almost inside his head, he heard a voice.

'Hmmm. Difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, Oh my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself. There is a bit of pain as well, you've been hurt too much in your life. But you can overcome, yes. Now where to put you."

"You're asking me?" Harry thought.

"Choices do count for something, young man."

"Well, all my friends seem to be in different houses, I would like to be in the same house as Ron, but you haven't sorted him out yet."

"Ah yes, another Weasley, he'll be in Gryffindor I'm sure."

"But, as much as I'd like that, I wanna do well. Where do you think I should be? Ron says that Slytherin is only for dark wizard's, so I don't think I want that house."

"Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great you know, it's all here in your head. Slytherin would help you on your way to greatness, no doubt about that."

"But what about the dark wizards?"

"Like I said before, it's all about choices. You would only be dark if you choose it. do you really want to miss out, because of what someone else's prejudice thoughts? I see you've experienced that first hand."

"But he's my friend. One of my first few friends."

"What about Nat? She's not prejudice. Remember what she said, and a friend is no friend if they don't accept you for who you are."

"I don't know, I'm just tired of being pushed back and left behind."

"Is there a problem?" Professor McGonagall broke in.

That hat then spoke out loud for everyone to hear. "Do you mind? I'm having a discussion with Mr. Potter. I take my job very seriously, as it concerns the future of the students. You will not rush me."

"I realise that Mr Potter is very important, but..."

"Mr. Potter is no more important than the others. He doesn't take kindly to this fame forced upon him, and even though he would fit very well in any house, and has the power to out do our kind Headmaster, I will take all the time needed to ensure his well being, kindly leave me to my task."

It got silent again as McGonagall just stared at the hat on top of the small boy.

Harry was snickering during the rant, but quickly got upset at that one remark. "Why did you tell them I had more power than the headmaster? Now I'll never be normal."

"I'm sorry, my dear boy, but destiny has determined that you will never be normal. I know you don't like the fame, but you have it, none the less. Destiny would most likely have you to be Dumbledore's Gryffindor golden boy. So you better get used to it."

"Screw that! I don't want that destiny!" Harry yelled inside his head.

"So what do you want to do, then?"

"Fine, you say I would do well in Slytherin? Then I want to choose my own destiny. I need power to do that. Put me in Slytherin!"

"As you wish, I will put you in SLYTHERIN!"

Where as with the other first years there was always clapping and cheering, the whole room remained silent at this choice of fate. The boy-who-lived and who was hoped to be the saviour of the wizarding world could either still be that saviour, or another dark lord, or something else entirely.

Harry slid off the stool and removed the hat. He glanced around as he put the hat back on the stool. He noticed that Dumbledore was looking at him appraisingly, as were the other teachers. He caught Hermione's eye and nodded. The same with Neville over at the Hufflepuff table. As he started for the Slytherin table, he noticed Ron had an almost shocked look on his face.

Harry turned and walked over to Ron. "We're still friends, aren't we?" he said quietly with a slight amount of fear in his voice. He wanted greatness, yes, but not at the cost of one of the first friends he ever had.

Ron heard the fear in his new friend's voice. He then remembered everything from the train. The pain Harry had gone through, and the fact his other new friends were in other houses as well. He looked down at his feet for a moment, then stared into Harry's eyes.

"You bet, mate. Houses shouldn't come between people," he said as he shook his hand and gave him a brotherly hug.

Everyone nearby, including Professor McGonagall, was startled by words of wisdom from the youngest male Weasley. Even Dumbledore heard the exchange, and it gave him a little hope that perhaps Harry Potter's influence would be more than a name. But it made him sad as well, for the loss of childhood was the price of this hope.

Harry made his way to the Slytherin table under the glare of one Draco Malfoy.

"Some display, Potter. You and your boyfriend the weasel getting married soon?" Malfoy said with a smirk.

Harry turned his head quickly as he was about to sit down. He gritted his teeth trying to hold is anger in. He glared at Malfoy, his green eyes glowing with emerald fire. Everyone in the vicinity was afraid, and they quickly scooted away from Malfoy.

McGonagall was about to call another name but heard Malfoy's comment and started to walk over to reprimand him, but stopped when she saw Harry's eyes. Dumbledore saw the problem and got up quickly and made his way over.

Harry spoke with slow and deadly force. "I know you can't understand true friendship, Malfoy, but insulting other people will make sure you never will. Pants still wet Malfoy?" He got closer to a very fearful Malfoy and spoke again. Each word sent a semi-harmless magical pulse of energy at Malfoy. "You...better...wake...up...or...else...you...might...get...HURT." On the last word the pulse was strong enough to knock Malfoy off his chair.

McGonagall finally regained her composure and got there as Harry just glared down at Malfoy on the floor. Dumbledore arrived seconds later. The whole school watched and waited to see what would happen to the pureblood with death eater ties and the boy-who-lived.

"Harry?" Dumbledore said quietly.

Harry was breathing hard but slowly, and when he heard Dumbledore, he realised he was nearly out of control. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He held out a hand to Malfoy. "Sorry, Malfoy, but you really need to stop with the insults every time we meet."

"Yes, you do, Malfoy," came a cold voice, causing Harry to look up. Snape had made his way over. "You will be dorm mates, and I won't tolerate such things in my house."

"Yes, quite right, Severus," Dumbledore said. "Can you two get along now so we can get along with the rest of the sorting and the feast?"

"Yessir," the two Slytherin first years said in unison as Malfoy ignored Harry's hand and scrambled up on his own.

McGonagall started to say something about Harry's display of power, but Dumbledore gave her a look to let it slide for now.

After the rest of the sorting the feast began. Harry ignored Malfoy for the most part and just enjoyed the great food he had become accustomed to with Pip. At one point he glanced up to the head table and noticed a teacher in a turban. He clutched his head as his scar burned when they locked eyes for a moment.

"You alright, Harry?" said Blaise Zabini, another first year Slytherin boy that had been chatting with Harry during the feast.

"My scar burned when I looked at that teacher with the turban."

"I wonder who it is," replied Blaise.

"That's Professor Quirrel. Sorry, I couldn't help over hearing. My name's Paulo Cadmus. I'm a Prefect. Are you okay, Harry?" said a tall boy with brown hair and a slight mustache.

"I'm okay. My scar just burned for a sec. It's stopped now," Harry said as he rubbed it with his right hand and reached for the pumpkin juice with his left. Harry winced and quickly set the pitcher back down and grabbed his forearm.

"What's the matter?" said Paulo, concerned.

"Damn, er dang it! My uncle, er, I broke my arm, and it hasn't healed yet. I'm supposed to see Madam Pompfrey after the feast."

Draco had been listening in, like a good little Slytherin, and was getting mad at Potter for making friends with a fifth year, a prefect even, but he caught Potter's slip, and it made him start to really think.

Paulo caught the slip as well. He was no stranger to abuse. Being the son of a divorced witch and a wizard hating drunken bastard of a muggle father.

Dumbledore then stood up and gave out the announcements, and dismissed everybody.

"Harry, you know the way to the dorms?" said Paulo. Harry shook his head no. "Malfoy!" he called out.

"What?" Draco said angrily.

"You know the way to get to the dorms?"

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

"Harry has to go see Madam Pompfrey, and he doesn't know the way. I want you to escort him to the dorm when he's done."

"Why me?" Draco huffed.

"Because you're most likely the only first year who knows the way, it's the right thing to do, and I said so. The password is 'purus sanguis'. Now go," he said sternly before calling the other first years to lead them to the dorms.

"Fine," he said and turned quickly. "C'mon Potter, let's get this over with."

Harry followed him out and to the hospital wing. "How do you know your way already?" Harry said making conversation.

"My father's on the board of governors. I've been here a few times growing up." Draco glanced over at Harry, who was cradling the injured arm and trying to rub it through the cast. "So, your uncle broke your arm?" he said roughly, trying not to care.

Harry stopped and glared at Malfoy, eyes starting to show the emerald fire again. "How? You were eavesdropping!"

Draco started to back away. "Calm down, Potter. I was...I...I'm sorry, alright?" The smirk on Draco's face replaced with fear.

Harry calmed down some, and his eyes returned to normal. "Sorry Draco, I just didn't want anyone to know. I don't want anyone's pity. Dang it, I gotta get this anger under control."

They started walking again, Draco keeping his distance far and his mouth shut.

Once at the hospital wing, Draco waited off to the side while Madam Pompfrey checked Harry's arm. He listened in though, not like they were trying to keep quiet.

"Harry, I thought I told you to be careful," Pompfrey said after examining him.

"I'm sorry, it just happens."

"Yes, I know how little boys are. At least your leg healed."

Draco looked up at this.

"Yeah, the cast disappeared last week."

"Last week?" she exclaimed and began to examine the leg. "This should have healed two weeks ago. Well, you'll need to take this reinforcing potion for your leg." She handed him a vial and he downed it, making a face.

"Now hold still, I have to reset this cast, and you'll need another potion for it as well." She waved her wand and a pink light shot out and enveloped the cast and then faded. She handed him another vial.

After drinking that one, he made an even worse face. "Uck, that one was worse than the one a month ago."

"Yes, well, that's because you kept re-injuring it. If you're not more careful, I'll have to do surgery to repair the bone."

Harry gulped at that and said, "I'll try harder, Ma'am"

"You do that," she said as she started to clean up. "I just can't believe your uncle could do those things. If I ever get my hands on him..." she trailed off.

"It's okay, Mr. Moody paid us a visit. I had to stop him from really hurting my uncle"

"Alastor Moody?" she questioned.

"Yeah, but I don't think my uncle is going to be okay. He got really scared and was in a daze the next day when my aunt took him to rest at my Aunt Marge's."

"Serves him right. We're done here, you may go," Pompfrey replied.

"Thanks, Madam Pompfrey. I'll try to be more careful."

"About time, Harry. Let's go," Draco said when Harry walked over to where he was waiting.

Harry stopped cold and gave Draco a puzzled look.

"What?" Draco asked with a scowl.

Harry just gave him an appraising look and started walking again. "Nothing, it's just you called me Harry."

"Fine, I won't do it anymore, _Potter_," Draco said as he headed toward the dungeons.

"Draco," Harry said grabbing Draco's arm.

"What?" Draco said pulling his arm free.

Harry just stared at him for a moment before responding. "Nothing, nevermind."

"Fine," Draco said angrily, before softening a bit and adding, "Harry."

They made the rest of the way to the Slytherin common room in silence. Harry took in as much as he could. The castle was brilliant. The moving portraits, while not new to him thanks to the photos of his parents, excited him. The moving staircases were fascinating. He had practically memorized 'Hogwart's, A History', but seeing all of it in person was nearly unbelievable.

Draco kept his thoughts to himself. He watched as Harry tried and failed to hide his fascination with all things wizard. There was obviously more to Harry than the boy-who-lived. A pure blood growing up with muggles and not knowing anything about the wizarding world at all was more than Draco could comprehend. Yes, he would definitely have to keep an eye on Harry James Potter.

They stopped at a stretch of bare, damp stone wall, and Harry made sure to memorize its location. Draco said the password and a hidden door slid open. The common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls. Round greenish lamps hung on chains from the ceiling. There was an elaborate mantel piece at the end, and the room was filled with various types of very comfortable furniture. There weren't any people, though, due to how late it was.

There were various tapestries amidst paintings that adorned every wall. Two that caught Harry's eye the most were right next to the hall that led to the dorms. They were the Slytherin crest and the Hogwart's crest, side by side. Very intricate and beautiful.

They walked down the hall, with Draco muttering where things were. The bathroom was across the hall from a dorm with a plaque above the door that said 'first years'. Harry followed Draco into their dorm and looked around.

The dorm room itself was large and square with two large four poster beds against each wall except for the wall with the door. The four beds to the back and left were already full, and it seems the house elves had put Draco and Harry together on the right hand wall. The bed curtains were forest green with silver trim, and looked quite nice. In the center between the beds was a shared wardrobe. Next to the beds on either side of the wardrobe were desks for doing homework.

"Glad to see you made it," came a voice from behind Harry and Draco causing them to jump. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay, Paulo," Harry said, catching his breath. Draco just smirked.

"I'm sure you got everything figured out. If you need anything, my dorm is at last one on the end, okay?" He looked toward both Draco and Harry as he spoke, but focused a little more on Harry. Neither caught it, though.

They nodded as Paulo left closing the heavy oak door behind him. They quickly got ready for bed, Draco putting on silk pajamas in Slytherin colors, while Harry just stripped to his underwear like he always did.

Draco let out a gasp when he glanced at the smaller than average boy's scarred torso. The light was soft and didn't carry to the rest of the room, but was enough to see clearly in between these two beds.

Harry spun around to see Draco gaping at him, just holding the top to his pajamas and staring.

Harry just glared at him and said, "Not a word." Then in a softer tone, "please, I...just don't say anything." He slumped his shoulders as he sat on his bed and started to take off the wand holster.

"But...Harry, your uncle did that?" Draco said as he put on his top and came over and sat in Harry's desk chair.

Harry just looked at the floor. "Yeah, why should you care? All you ever do is try to bully people. You insult my friends or me every time I meet you." Then Harry jumped up, grabbed his wand, and had it pointed between his eyes before Draco could even blink. "I won't put up with bullies," Harry said as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Draco back away slowly. "No, I...mean, I just want to talk. My father...my father hurt me too," he said in a shaky voice.

"I don't believe you," Harry said as he lowered his wand.

"It's true," Draco said as he looked at the ground. "He...he used the cruciatus on me."

It was Harry's turn to gasp. "Why? What did you do?"

"I didn't learn my lessons properly. He always said it would toughen me up for my service to the Dark Lord."

Draco then looked up into Harry's eyes. "I won't tell about you if you don't tell about me." He then shook off the emotion and spoke strongly. "I'm a Malfoy, a pureblood."

Harry just shook his head as Draco turned and went to bed. Before he got into bed himself, he tied up all of the green curtains around his bed. It reminded him too much of his old cupboard under the stairs. He climbed under the cool sheet to find Norbert nestled there. He muttered "thanks Pip," and cuddled up to the stuffed dragon and went to sleep.

Late in the night, Theodore Nott got up to use the bathroom, and when he came back in, he saw Harry cuddling the purple dragon. Even though it was the dungeon, there was a grey light coming from somewhere to illuminate it enough to see how to get around.

"Famous Harry Potter sleeps with a stuffed animal," he giggled to himself as he silently went over to Harry's bed. Draco heard him, but pretended to be asleep. Nott gently grabbed the toy and made his way back to his own bed.

Not more than thirty seconds past and Harry started to toss and turn with bad dreams. Draco's eyes snapped open at the sounds coming from Harry's bed. The other's were now awake as Nott giggled ever louder from his own bed.

Harry kept tossing and turning, clenching and unclenching his fists. He kept murmuring and finally jerked up and screamed, "MAMMA!

The lights came on as he jumped out of bed, looking around, wondering where he was. Nott's bed was opposite Harry's on the left wall, and Harry saw him holding Norbert in the air, taunting him. Breathing heavily with a few tears rolling down his cheeks, Harry put his hand up and summoned Norbert to him just as Paulo ran in.

Not noticing Paulo, Nott walked forward quickly and pointed his wand at Harry. "Screw you and your stupid toy."

Trying to get hold of his emotions, Harry tossed Norbert back to his bed with his left hand while he raised his right and summoned Nott's wand. Once he had it he through it past Paulo and out into the hall.

Nott then charged at Harry and tried to hit him. What little training Harry had managed paid off though. Through near sobs, Harry blocked Nott's right hook with his injured left arm. He brought his right hand up and grabbed it. He then swung himself under the taller boy and pulled down on the arm, flipping him over onto his back on the hard, cold, stone floor.

Harry let the tears fall as he took deep breaths. Looking down at the boy on the floor, he channeled his anger into a rant. "You stupid shite. That _toy_ is the only thing that keeps me from seeing my mum and dad killed by Voldemort himself."

Everyone flinched at the name, but Harry just stared down at the boy. Then he yelled, "Bastard!" as he kicked Nott in the ribs with all his might.

Nott cried out and grabbed his side. Harry was about to kick him again, but he was grabbed by Paulo and led back to his bed.

"You guys get that brat to his bed," Paulo said forcefully to the others as he nodded to Nott. "Harry, you alright now?"

Harry took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I over reacted?"

"Maybe a little." Paulo smiled. He noticed the scars but kept the acknowledgment from his face. "Maybe you should say you're sorry for kicking him. I think he'll say he's sorry too, it was just a prank, after all. Wait here a moment, and let me talk to him."

Harry nodded and Paulo got up and went over to Nott's bed and spoke for a moment. After a few minutes he motioned for Harry to come over as he led Nott to the center of the room, to meet halfway so to speak.

"I'm sorry, Theodore, I shouldn't have kicked you, especially when you were down," Harry said as he held out his hand.

"That's how you do it in Slytherin," he said a little menacingly as he grabbed Harry's hand, and, being a quick learner, attempted Harry's muggle move on him.

Harry went from sorry to annoyed in a heartbeat, and kept the spinning going and put Nott on his back again. "Nice to see you're a quick learner, but it ain't good enough." Harry glared down at the boy.

Paulo smiled at Harry, then smirked at Nott. "Detention with Filch, tomorrow, Nott."

Harry gave Nott a perfect Slytherin smirk and said, "silly pureblood beaten by a muggle move from a muggle raised wizard. It's not about blood, its about ability, or power." The others looked on in slight shock at the words, even Paulo. Harry just turned and went to bed.

The others had food for thought as they watched the scarred back of the-boy-who-lived climb into bed and snuggle against Norbert who shot little flames toward the others before going to sleep himself.

Paulo went out and grabbed Nott's wand and tossed it to him saying, "no more trouble, out of any of you, understand?" They all nodded as Paulo closed the door and the lights lowered to the dull shadow of before.

As they drifted to sleep, the other boys thought about what Harry had said. Even Crabbe and Goyle furrowed their brow in wonder. Could their parents be wrong? This small boy that had defeated the dark lord as a baby was proving to be much more than a name.

hr size1 width100 noshade 

**A/N**

purus sanguis is Latin for pure blood according to the English to Latin website I use.


	15. Untempered Temper

_Jan 18, 2006 Made a few changes. Nothing big._

_**Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them. I hope you like this chapter. I have a job now so new chapters may be a little slower, especially because I want to try and work on my other fics as well, not to mention get ready for HBP. I want to read cannon just to get my head out of the fan fics so I know whats going on in the new book. I hope you understand, as its really hard just keeping my own fics straight, and all the fanfics I've read. Please enjoy and review.**_

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 15 "Untempered Temper"**

Before breakfast on the first day of term, the four heads of houses gathered in Dumbledore's office to discuss Harry Potter and the events of of the night before.

"The magical tracking charm didn't work on the boy, headmaster?" said Professor Severus Snape in a very cold voice.

"Yes, the ghosts informed me last night after the feast. Harry felt it and easily pushed it away," replied Dumbledore.

"Well we should try again, force it on him."

"We will not, Severus. We must tread lightly in all matters regarding Harry. I was going to hold back on telling him some things. I was hoping to let him have a normal childhood, but, I realise now, he never will have one. Never could have one."

"Then, we are to tell him of Sirius?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Yes, Minerva. We will tell him as much as possible."

"Are you sure that's wise, Albus?" came a voice from the door.

"Absolutely, Minister. May I ask what brings you here this early, Cornelius?"

"Yes, quite. Mr. Potter's actions last night concern me."

"Indeed? I'm curious to know just how you heard about any goings on so quickly," Dumbledore said with a slight frown.

"Well, er," Fudge stammered.

"Lucius Malfoy most likely," Snape said.

"You're wrong there, it was Nott," Fudge said quickly, taking the bait, to which Snape smirked.

"Using children as spies,Cornelius?" Dumbledore's frown increasing.

"Well, er," Fudge stammered, "I just wanted to keep an eye on Mr. Potter when he returned to our world. He did defeat you-know-who after all, and we're still not sure exactly how he did that."

Dumbledore rubbed his temples for a moment before speaking. "Alright, Minister, what did you hear?"

The Minister took a seat and began a little nervously. "Well, Mr. Nott's son, Theodore, er, sent me an owl late last night."

"Sent _you_ an owl?" Dumbledore looked up, slight amazement in his eyes.

"Yes, well, what he said concerns me in the extreme," Fudge said, firmness in his voice to take the focus away from himself.

Dumbledore glanced over at Snape who gave a slight nod and left. "Please continue, Minister."

"Yes, well, he said first that their was some sort of incident, a display of dangerous power, between Mr. Potter and young Draco Malfoy."

"That was my fault, I'm afraid, and it was only a slight misuse of power. Mr. Malfoy was not injured in any way."

"Slight misuse of power? And why would it be your fault?" Fudge was starting to gleam that the headmaster had made a mistake.

"Placing Harry with his aunt and uncle was my idea, and it was a mistake. They did NOT take proper care of him." McGonagall snorted at that. "Yes, Minerva, I know. They abused him physically, Minister. Now Harry has an extreme distaste for bullies of any sort. Young Malfoy made a comment and Harry lost control."

"Expel him then! We can't endanger the lives of the other students."

"Absolutely not, Cornelius," Dumbledore said, anger building and Fudge beginning to quiver. "He will learn control just as any other student. If we were to send him away now, we would guarantee he would become the next dark lord. That's why we have to tell him everything. He already doesn't trust us for not checking on him. I've started to rebuild that trust. We need him. If were not careful, he'll end up just like Tom Riddle. He's already more powerful than Tom ever was at that age."

Fudge just gulped and fiddled with his bowler hat. "I really must insist then, that you don't tell him about Sirius," he said without looking up, just as Snape entered with a confused Paulo in tow.

Dumbledore thought for a moment then glared at Fudge until he looked up. "What have you done?" he said barely above a whisper.

Fudge looked sheepishly around the room at the shocked people who had never seen Dumbledore this angry at the Minister. "Well, er, well, we never really had a trial for Mr. Black," he muttered quietly.

"What?" yelled Dumbledore standing up.

"You mean he could have been innocent?" McGonagall gasped.

"You told us it was a closed trial. I thought it impossible that Sirius would betray James and Lily. Pettigrew was more the type to support Voldemort," Dumbledore stated, his anger rising with his voice.

Fudge jerked at the name and was about to try to explain himself, but was cut off.

"Oh grow up, you bloody idiot. It's just a name. A name can't hurt you. We have made too many mistakes regarding Tom, then Voldemort, and now Harry."

"Now see here, Albus," Fudge started, but stopped at the glare in Dumbledore's eyes and that said Headmaster slammed his fist on his desk.

"No, you see here, _Minister_, You will unseal what files you have regarding Sirius Black and turn them over to me with whatever evidence you may think you have. Now," he said more calmly, "was there anything else in Mr. Nott's letter?"

Paulo's eyes went wide at that part, but he stayed silent and just listened.

Fudge gulped. He had never seen the headmaster angry before. He was always calm, but this wouldn't do. "Well, he said he got into a bit of a fight with Harry, seems the boy sleeps with a stuffed animal, and he took it as a joke. Harry woke up and used some sort of muggle move on him. He seemed quite in awe of Harry, actually. Because when the prefect tried to get them to shake hands and make up, he copied the move, but Harry twisted it to his advantage, and Theodore landed on his back. Again."

"Is that how it happened, Paulo?" the headmaster asked of the quiet fifteen year old.

"Pretty much, Professor. It seems that the little stuffed dragon keeps Harry from having nightmares about seeing his parents killed."

Everyone gasped except Snape, who smirked, and Dumbledore, who just sighed heavily. The Headmaster sat down and took out a quill and parchment and started writing what appeared to be notes. Finally he looked up and spoke as he continued writing. "Fudge, we will NOT be expelling Harry. Instead, we will help him through this as best we can. He has been done wrong by the wizarding world, myself at the head of that list. He maybe somewhat of a celebrity, but I know from my chat with him that he does not care for it."

Dumbledore then looked to the Slytherin Prefect. "Paulo, I don't want Theodore spying for the Minister anymore." He gave Fudge a glare when he mentioned him. "Can you handle any problems between Harry and his dorm mates? I don't want anyone else spying either."

"No problem Professor. It's practically worked out already. I don't think Ted was comfortable writing that letter, from what I can tell." Paulo gave the Minister a glare of his own.

"Good, Paulo." Dumbledore gave a weak grin and then got a look of deep thought.

"Well, I, er, I'll be off then," said Fudge, making a quick exit. He knew he had to cover himself. He couldn't go against Dumbledore, he was too powerful. He had to get back to the Ministry and do damage control before things got out of hand and he lost his power. "I'll send over the information on Mr. Black as soon as I get back," and he left.

"Fine," Dumbledore mumbled, still lost in thought. "I was gonna ask you all to tread lightly around Harry, but that would be wrong. Tread carefully would be better." Then he got a stern, almost angry look on his face as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "Asking also is wrong. You must do this. Period." His face softened somewhat. "Just treat him like anyone else as much as possible. He never had a proper childhood, and never will. But he can be treated like a person."

As he said this last part, he took out his wand and duplicated the letter he had been writing several times. He then folded them, addressed them, and placed the Hogwart's seal on them. He got up and took them over to his pet phoenix, and said, "Fawkes, I need, no Harry and I need these letters delivered as soon as possible. Preferably before the Minister gets back to his office." He gave the letters to the bird, who vanished in a burst of red and orange flames.

He then turned to face them again. "Paulo, everyone else in this room knows what happened to Harry, but..."

"No problem, sir," the Slytherin cut off the headmaster. "I already know at least the basics. I know a bit how he feels, and I'll look after him as a brother, more so than the other first years because of it. I'll try not to show favouritism, but I won't guarantee it."

Snape gave a sour look, but nobody saw it. Snape decided he would have his own fun, to get back at James Potter.

"I would expect no less from my prefects," Dumbledore said, the twinkle returning to his eyes. "Now, I would like you to have Harry come to see me for a LONG talk about things, as soon as you think he isn't too overwhelmed by everything. I don't want to throw too much at him at once."

"Sure thing, Professor."

"Shall we head to breakfast?" Dumbledore said as he led them out.

"_Hello Archimedes_," Harry hissed as he opened his eyes.

"_Hello, master. This bed is warm. I like it here_," the little snake replied.

Harry thought he was the only one awake as he chatted with the little grass snake. But Draco was awake and silently watching with wide eyes as he realised that Harry was a parselmouth. The-boy-who-lived was just full of surprises.

Harry turned over to see his owl sitting on his desk, staring at him. "Good morning, Kleo. How did you get down here?" he asked as he got up.

"There's a passage way that leads directly to the owlery," Draco said snidely as he got up as well.

"Oh, cool," Harry replied. "You can have the whole wardrobe, Draco. I'll just use my trunk," Harry said as he disappeared into it to change.

Draco was stunned yet again. He didn't even own a top of the line trunk like that. An orphan who appeared to come from a wealthy pureblood family, yet forced to grow up by abusive muggles. Something was indeed wrong. He couldn't goto his father with this, so it would take some time to figure it out, but figure it out he would.

Harry met up with the other three Marauders on the way to breakfast, Draco keeping his distance, but listening in as best he could. They separated to go to their own house tables but each sat near the end where they could stay in sight of each other. Dumbledore noticed this and beamed, eyes twinkling like mad.

Harry read the Daily Prophet while he ate. An article caught his eye about the Gringott's brake in from his birthday. He remembered reading about it the day after he was in Diagon Alley. The investigation was still underway as they still hadn't caught anyone. Harry remembered that the vault was the same one Dumbledore had removed a small package from. He wondered what it was that would be so valuable. He had an idea, but it would have to wait till later to check.

Harry was doing his best to ignore the whispers his fame brought him. Both as so-called saviour of the wizarding world, and his own reputation that had started during his first day and night at Hogwart's. It was hard, but he was doing pretty good at keeping his temper in check. People were mostly just curious, he surmised.

Harry kept up with Draco on his way to his classes, and was quickly learning his way around. He found the classes to be rather easy, as he had already been through all of his books and then some. He was tempted to not pay close attention in class, but he quickly found out, that they covered material that wasn't in the text. Ever eager to learn more, Harry took careful notes during class. With what he already knew, plus his notes, he was able to breeze through his homework. He even spent some time working on next years books that he borrowed from the library along with the extra books he picked up that weren't covered in any class.

Harry's first week had really flown by. Some classes he had with Hermione, some with Neville, and some with Ron. But, being his house-mate, Draco was always there. He didn't really hate Draco anymore, but he wasn't exactly friends with him either. Draco just seem to be more quiet than he used to be. Always watching, not like the others who were interested in either his fame, or curious about his reputation. It was more like he was trying to figure something out. He was glad he had figured out how to do a good locking charm on his trunk, as he didn't really trust Draco either.

Harry thought about it, and decided to ignore whatever Draco was doing for now. He had enough to do and wanted to at least have a little fun without worrying over things. That would come later if Voldemort ever returned.

On Friday morning at breakfast Kleo brought Harry a note from Hagrid:

Dear Harry,

I know you don't have class this afternoon,  
and I was hoping you and your friends might  
join me for tea around 3 and tell me all about  
your first week. Send back an answer with  
Kleo

Hagrid

Harry went over and asked his friends if they wanted to go. Only Ron had the afternoon off, and was delighted to go. Harry quickly wrote back that he and Ron would love to, but Hermione and Neville had Potions that afternoon and couldn't come.

Once Kleo had taken off, Harry and Ron set off for the dungeons as they had potions this morning. Harry noticed that Draco had taken to following him and was trying to listen in to his and Ron's conversation. Then Harry remembered that he didn't really care what Draco was up to, but he wouldn't completely ignore it either. Just keep it in the back of his mind. The words of Moody came to mind and he giggled out loud. Ron gave Harry a look to which Harry whispered in his ear about Draco and Moody's 'constant vigilance' story that he had told on the train.

Ron gave a quick glance behind them at Malfoy and let out a giggle himself before continuing their talk about visiting Hagrid.

Draco realised he had been caught and decided that maybe it was fate or life that was the puzzle of Harry James Potter. He would have to think about this some more, but later. Potions should be interesting. He knew that Professor Snape hated Harry's father and that at least some of that hate carried over to Harry for some reason. More to add to the puzzle.

Once in the classroom, Harry continued his influence by sitting next to Ron. All week he had sat with his friends in class, ignoring old house rivalries. The most shocking of course was having a Slytherin sitting next to and friends with a Gryffindor in potions. The other students had taken a page from his book and intermixed with members of the other houses all over the room.

When Professor Snape burst in menacingly to add a bit of fear he actually stopped and glared when he saw this. He quickly recovered and continued in his normal way. As he took register he snidely remarked, "ah, yes. Harry Potter...our new..._celebrity_."

Finishing the register, he began a little speech, looking around the room while doing so, but continually returning his glare to Harry. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he spoke in a near whisper, but keeping everyones attention. "As there is very little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses...I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Harry and Ron gave each other knowing looks. They knew they weren't dunderheads. They had been studying in the library with Hermione and Neville every evening. Harry was already good at potions, and with Hermione's help had shown Ron that his biggest problem was trying to live in the shadow of his brothers. Once he calmed down, he did alright, except for the fact that he had a used wand, which Harry was going to remedy for his best friend first chance they got.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly, causing both Harry and Ron to jump. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry thought for the briefest of moments and said, "a sleeping potion so powerful that its called the drought of the living death."

Snape had planned on berating him for his fame and lack of knowledge, but the correct answer made him angry. His lips curled into a sneer.

"Fine, let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"I believe that's a stone taken from the stomach of a goat, and can save you from most poisons," Harry said simply without emotion, knowing that Snape was clearly trying to bait him for some reason.

Snape's anger increased even more, so he tried a third time to get his revenge on James Potter. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood, and wolfs bane?"

"They are the same plant. It's also called aconite," Harry replied, again without showing any emotion. The whole class was astonished, as they too knew Snape was trying to bait the boy-who-lived.

"A point from..." Snape growled. He was about to take a point from his own house. "Detention with Filtch, Potter, for your cheek." Then he bent over a little and glared into Harry's eyes and smirked with raw hatred. "So like your father you are. He was an arrogant big head as well."

Harry started to break. He quickly stood up and faced Snape, his hands started shaking with nervous, magical energy, that slightly glowed green. He glared angrily with silent tears starting to flow. "Don't you dare talk about my father like that, it's not right."

"Sit down, Potter!" Snape bellowed out.

"Piss off you git!" Harry screamed out. "You're suppose to teach, not bully and berate students!" Harry sobbed out as he slammed his fists down on the table in front of himself and Ron. It immediately crumbled to dust.

The students quickly backed away as Harry glared at a shocked Snape who brought out his wand and was about to curse Harry, but harry was quicker, even though he had forgot his wand back in his dorm.

"Expelliarmus," Harry screamed out without even raising his hand, and Snape's wand quickly flew over to Ron who caught it as Snape was forced back about five feet from where he stood. "I don't know what problem you had with my dad," Harry screamed out, "but I am not him. But from what I've heard about him, I would be glad to be called my father's son."

A magical pulse flew from Harry and blasted Snape against the wall. Harry was breathing heavily with tears running down his cheek. He muttered 'sorry' to Ron and ran out.

Harry could feel the magic still building within him. His outburst wasn't over. He kept running and before he knew where he was headed, he had burst into the transfiguration class room. "Professor?" Harry pleaded to a shocked McGonagall.

Harry was glowing faintly with a green aura of power and the entire class was stunned motionless. Harry felt the burning of his magic growing. It was starting to hurt as he looked around at the motionless students.

"Professor... please... get them out!" Harry said loudly.

McGonagall quickly got the students out just as a magical surge came from Harry exploding some desks where students had sat a few moments before.

McGonagall grabbed and held Harry, who just shook his head. No tears were coming, only anger.

"Please, I can't control it. I don't wanna hurt you too."

"What happened, Harry?"

"It was Professor Snape, he... I'm sorry, I ... it hurts," Harry growled out as another wave shot out and disintegrated a half dozen more desks.

McGonagall quickly put a shield up around herself, then one around Harry. The one around Harry failed at the next and final wave that pretty much destroyed the rest of the classroom, but the one around McGonagall herself remained intact.

Harry's breath was shallow and he swallowed a few times as his mouth was going dry. "I think it's over, I'm so sorry," Harry said quietly as the anger and power faded away. He then sighed and shook his head as he closed his eyes for a few moments.

"Oh, my," Dumbledore said as he rushed in.

Once Harry got to his feet more properly with Dumbledore's help, McGonagall hurried over to the fire place and through in some floo powder. She yelled out "St. Mungo's," before sticking her head into the green fire. "Healer Bombay! Healer Bombay? Yes, could you come right away?" she said and then pulled her head out of the fire, which returned to normal for a moment before flaring green again.

A slightly heavy wizard of medium height stepped through and said, "alright, alright, I'm here. What seems to be the trouble?"

Harry was queasy and pale after his ordeal. He nearly passed out several times as McGonagall explained quickly what happened and gave the short version of his life with the Dursley's and Healer Bombay cast some spells on him.

"_Pendomorbus Postilla-Offendus_," the Healer said after the examination.

"What's that?" asked a very pale Harry.

"Quite simply, my dear boy, it's the wizard version of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."

Harry at least had heard of that, but he was still worried. "Can I be cured? I don't wanna hurt anybody."

"Yes, my boy. As you learn to control your magic, and gain confidence, it will fade. Talking with someone about your troubles will help as well. I'm sorry to say though, that every three to four weeks or so, your magic will build up and you'll have a release such as this. Like I said though, it will fade in time. Depending on how hard you work at it, it should end probably by the summer holiday, maybe sooner."

"So there's nothing that will help? No potion or spell or anything?" Harry pleaded.

"Well, Mr. Potter, I've never heard of a case this strong before, but there is a potion that should help. But I'm afraid it's a very difficult one to brew, and the taste I hear is rather unpleasant. It's made from wolf's bane, and I doubt your potionmaster is up to the challenge."

Dumbledore and McGonagall gave each other knowing looks before the Headmaster spoke up. "Professor Snape WILL make the potion for you, Harry. Don't worry."

They thanked Healer Bombay and he left. Harry just sat at a newly conjured desk with his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, Professors, really I am," he said without looking up. "I ruined your classroom, and you were so good to me," he said looking up at Professor McGonagall.

"It's my fault, Harry," Dumbledore broke in. "Minerva warned me about putting you with your aunt and uncle."

Harry looked down, not really knowing what to say. "Will Professor Snape really make the potion for me?" he said sheepishly.

Dumbledore went over and lifted Harry's head up to look in his eyes. "Yes, he will, Harry," he said firmly. "Things will be okay. In fact, A close friend of your parents will be arriving soon. He has a similar monthly problem that requires the same potion. I know he'll be extremely happy to help you."

Harry's eyes widened at that. "Really?" Harry sniffled a little.

"Yes, his name is Remus Lupin, Harry," McGonagall said.

Harry stood up so quick Dumbledore was taken aback. "The friend from the picture you sent? One of the Marauders?"

The two professors beamed at the suddenly happy eleven year old wizard.

Harry suddenly got a downcast look. "Where has he been? If he was a close friend, why didn't he visit?"

Dumbledore decided to give part of his talk to Harry now. "It's because of his own pain at losing your parents Harry. He put himself in solitude for that reason and one other, he's a werewolf, Harry." Harry looked up, stunned. "Yes, Harry. A werewolf, and that same potion helps him. After what happened to your parents, he was hurting, for reasons I'll tell you later in a talk I had hoped to have by now. I wrote him telling him to let the past heal because his friend's son needed him now. He wrote back and said he would love to help anyway he could. That he needed to let go of the hurt too."

Harry excepted this, knowing what hurting so much could do to someone. Harry nodded with a heavy sigh as the final effects of what happened were finally over.

"He should arrive on Sunday morning, Harry; and if you wouldn't mind, I would like to have that talk with you tomorrow, after breakfast. I'm sure you'll have many questions that Remus could help with afterwards." Harry nodded, and Dumbledore looked at his pocketwatch. "Oh, dear. It seems you've missed your defense against the dark arts class, and it's lunch time. Shall we go down together?" he said as McGonagall and Harry followed him to the great hall for lunch.

Harry stopped suddenly causing the two professors to turn around a look. "What .. what about Professor Snape?" Harry asked dejectedly.

"He should be fine by dinner, Harry. While you were being examined I got the full story from the entire class. Professor Snape has been reprimanded for berating and bullying students. I regret that I have let such things slide in the past. This was the worst he's ever been, and I have put a stop to it."

Dumbledore then got creakily down on a knee to look Harry straight into his eyes. "What happened to you was a mistake, Harry. I won't be passive and unseeing like that again. For you, and for your parents, understand?"

Harry nodded and Dumbledore gave him a gentle hug. McGonagall had moist eyes as this was the Headmaster she had come to respect long ago. It also had her worried. If he was going to put forth this much effort to try and do what was needed, then his time must surely be coming to an end. She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and sighed.

The three then continued on to lunch meeting Ron and Draco on the way. It appeared they had been chatting a bit, or more perhaps arguing on and off, but at least they weren't really fighting. Harry was glad and the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress were a little proud that Harry was having a positive effect with most of the students, even if he was getting a reputation similar to that of one James Potter.

****

A/N _Pendomorbus Postilla-Offendus_ is the nearest Latin translation I could come up with for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I am not a student of Latin, I use an online English to Latin dictionary.


	16. The Truth And Nothing But

_Finally, yay! Between multiple computer crashes and finding a job and working too many hours and the book and the movie, I finally got it done. I'm off work again so I spent the last few days on it. It's a little rough around the edges, but I got everything in it that I planned. I do have all of the plot elements for the entire first year as well as a few ideas for later years. Thanks so much for the reviews and for being patient. I hope you like this chapter. Please visit my yahoo group at  
http /groups. yahoo. com /group /lordcholos  
P.S. I updated the earlier chaps if you would like to reread them, nothing major though. Please Review._

**"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 16, "The Truth And Nothing But..."**

Harry was the focus of stares more than usual at lunch. What had happened between him and Snape and then the incident in McGonagall's classroom had spread so fast that there wasn't time for the story to be embellished upon. Everyone knew pretty much exactly what happened. They weren't sure to be afraid or awed at the boy-who-lived. Oddly enough, by the end of lunch as Harry started to blush slightly in embarrassment, nearly everyone decided he was just a regular kid with above average talent and a rough home life, and they would let him be for the most part.

As Harry got up to leave, he sensed this as did Dumbledore. They caught each others eyes, smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. Everything seemed reasonably normal to Harry as he completed his last class for the week. Grabbing Ron by the arm, he rushed off to see Hagrid, who was waiting with tea and treacle in his little wooden hut.

"Hullo Harry. Ya doin' alrigh' after what happened?" Hagrid asked as he let them in.

"Yeah, it was kinda rough, but I'm alright," Harry responded with a sheepish smile. "You remember Ron? He's in Gryffindor."

"O'course I remember Ron. How ya doin lad?" Hagrid said as he shook Ron's hand, and body too. "This is my old boarhound, Fang." A large dark brown dog bounded up and gave each of the small boys are very sloppy wet lick as a greeting.

"So, how was yer first week?" Hagrid began as they sipped their tea.

"It was good, Hagrid. A little easy too since me an Hermione already been through all the books for this year," Harry answered.

"Yeah, not to bad. Harry and Hermione helped me and our other friend, Neville, study in the evenings, but I'm startin to get it," Ron added.

"Glad to hear it." Hagrid beamed a wide smile at them behind his thick beard. "I always knew you'd be a good'un Harry."

Harry blushed as he looked around the shack at all of Hagrid's interesting possessions.

"Cool place ya got here, Hagrid," Harry said.

"Thank ya Harry, it ain't much, but it's home. Been my home ever since I got expelled in me third year," Hagrid said with a sigh.

"You got expelled?" Ron exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, I don' like talkin 'bout it much." Hagrid blushed behind his beard and looked away.

Harry walked over to the large chair where Hagrid was sitting and placed a hand on his arm and said, "It's alright, Hagrid. You can trust us. You know what I went through, and you saved me."

Hagrid looked back at Harry and saw nothing but concern on the boy's face. It was the same when he looked over at Ron.

"Well, alright. In case you didn't notice, I have a thing fer interestin creatures. In me third year, students started gettin attacked, but I know it wasn't my pet, Aragog. He wouldn't hurt anyone."

"What kind of creature was he?" Harry asked.

"Oh, he's an acromantula, that's a kind of large spider."

Ron gulped and went pale causing Harry and Hagrid to look at him.

"Ron doesn't like spiders," Harry said, "He hasn't since Fred and George played trick on him when he was little."

"Yeah, Fred and George can be a handful," Hagrid said and continued. "Anyway, when a girl was killed, an older boy accused me and Aragog. He was the head boy and everyone liked him. Professor Dumbledore didn't really trust him though, but he was the only one. His name was, er, Tom Riddle I think."

"Hmmm...that names sounds familiar to me for some reason. Anyway, what happened to Aragog?" Harry asked.

"He lives in the forest with the wife I found for him, and all of his kids. Lots of kids. I visit him every now and then. He's one of the reasons the forest is forbidden. He won't hurt me, but he probably would anyone else that visits his hollow."

A knock at Hagrid's door caused Harry and Ron to startle and then giggle at each other. Hagrid quickly got up and answered it.

"Oh, hullo Professor Dumbledore, what brings you here?" Hagrid said cheerfully.

"Hello, Hagrid. I was looking for young Mr. Potter. Ah, Harry, there you are."

"Hello professor. What's up?"

"I thought since you were with Mr. Weasley and Hagrid, we should have our little chat, and maybe save you from retelling it to your friends. Mr Longbottom and Miss Granger should be along shortly. I left word for them to join us as soon as their class was over. I hope you don't mind, Hagrid, I thought we might eat dinner here."

"Not at all professor. I don't usually have company, and it would be real nice," Hagrid said smiling broadly behind his thick beard.

As Professor Dumbledore conjured up chairs and a table for people not quite as large as Hagrid, he asked nonchalantly, "So, Harry, not that I'm supposed to know, but you've kept your broom in your trunk?"

"Broom?" Ron mumbled to himself.

"Yeah, in fact, I completely forgot about it."

"What broom?" Ron asked.

"That's good. The lessons are scheduled to start next week, but even after, you should probably keep it in your trunk anyway."

"What broom?" Ron asked, again more loudly.

"I will, Professor, although I am anxious to try flying."

"Harry, WHAT BROOM!"

"Oh, sorry Ron. I got a Nimbus 2000 in my trunk."

"A WHAT?"

"A Nimbus 2000, kinda forgot about it, especially since first years aren't aloud to have them."

"How could you forget a Nimbus 2000? It's the fastest yet?"

"Calm down Ron, I'll sneak you into my dorm and let you see it some time. Er, you didn't hear that, Professor Dumbledore." Harry blushed.

"Hear what?" Dumbledore said as they sat down.

Harry asked, "So anyway, er, Hagrid, after you were expelled, the attacks stopped?"

Dumbledore didn't say anything, but was glad Hagrid had decided to share what what had happened.

"Yeah, they stopped," Hagrid said dejectedly.

"But doesn't it mean that the guy that accused you is the one that was doing it? Tom Riddle?" Harry suggested.

"I guess, but It's alright Harry. Professor Dumbledore knows I didn't do it. You guys know I didn't do it, I got a job I love, and that's enough. Besides, there's no way to really prove it, especially since no one's really seen him since he left school."

"That might not be entirely true, Hagrid," Dumbledore broke in.

Everyone looked curiously at Dumbledore just as a knock sounded on Hagrid's door again. Hagrid got up and let Hermione and Neville in. They greeted Hagrid, Harry, and Ron before taking seats on either side of them across from Professor Dumbledore and saying hello to him as well.

"Now, where was I?" Dumbledore said with a wave of his hand, causing the table to be filled with all kinds of delicious foods. "Oh yes, Mr Tom Riddle. I have a suspicion about Tom Riddle that will undoubtedly surprise all of you."

"Tom Riddle?" Hermione and Neville said in unison.

"Er, we think he framed Hagrid when they were in school together," Harry said.

"Oh," they said looking sorrowfully at Hagrid who just nodded that it was okay."

"You're correct, Hagrid. We can't prove anything yet." Dumbledore continued again. "Because it's my belief, and I could be wrong, but I believe that Tom Riddle, during his travels after he left Hogwart's, became the person we know as Lord Voldemort."

Hagrid gasped as Ron and Neville shuddered at the name while Harry and Hermione just looked a little surprised and then very interested.

"You mustn't be afraid, it's only a name after all. In fact, the fear to even speak the name is where Voldemort got much of his power over people. You really should try and get over this fear. Say Voldemort over and over if you must. Don't be ruled by your fear, confront it face to face."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Dumbledore then jumped when Hagrid belted out, "Voldemort!" As everyone stared at him, he said, "Professor Dumbledore's right, and I choose not to be afraid of a name anymore."

Good for you, Hagrid," Hermione said.

"Me too! Voldemort!" Neville added. "Come on, Ron, say it."

Ron looked a little unsure, but finally said a little nervously, "Oh fine, Voldemort."

Harry looked on at the display in puzzlement as Dumbledore began again. "Very good, everyone. Now, Harry, what I'm about to tell you should probably stay within this room. I almost decided to wait until you were older, but then I realised that I probably would have kept putting it off year after year trying to give you some resemblance to a normal childhood. But I know that will probably never be anyway. Plus I'm not getting any younger. At any rate, it seems to start with a prophecy that I was witnessed to hear."

They all looked at each other curiously, especially Harry, as this was what Pip was probably talking about.

"The Prophecy as I heard it as it was made is this: _'THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES... BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES ... AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT ... AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES... THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES..._'

Everyone just sat staring at Dumbledore in disbelief. "I'm sorry Harry. If I had waited until you were older to tell you, it was possible and very likely that people close to you would have died trying to protect you, and you would have blamed yourself. So I decided to inform you now, so you can be better prepared. As the prophecy said you can't live while he survives, so your childhood may not be nice, but I will try to help any way I can. Within reason of course."

"But he's gone already, right? When I was a baby?" Harry said hopefully.

"I'm afraid not, Harry," Dumbledore said sadly. "right now, he may have no body, but he is more than a spirit."

Harry didn't know what to say, nor did anyone else for that matter. They just kept looking between the Professor and Harry, who began to look a little overwhelmed.

"There is something else," Dumbledore said suddenly, and everyone returned their gaze to him, astonished that there could be more, especially Harry. "There were two children born at the end of July whose parents had defied Voldemort three times."

Neville gulped loudly and everyone turned their staring eyes on him.

"Yes, Neville, you are correct." Dumbledore continued, "you were the other possibility."

"B..b..but what if V..Voldemort made a mistake, and it really is me?"

As Dumbledore was about to answer, Harry spoke up. "It can't be, Nev. Voldemort decided it by choosing me. He marked me as his equal," Harry said, pointing to his scar. "I'm connected to him somehow through this."

Harry turned his gaze to the floor in thought as everyone stared at him. After a few minutes of silence he spoke again while staring down at the floor boards of Hagrid's hut. "I think he's nearby, whatever's left of him that is. My scar has hurt a little on and off ever since I got here. It was sharper when I first got here, now it's not as strong. I think maybe he knows and can block it somehow."

Dumbledore smiled a proud but sad smile and said, "I think you're right, Harry. It would have taken me longer to figure that out my boy, well done."

"Really?" Harry looked up with a shy grin.

"Really. But in any case I think it would be helpful for you to begin Occlumency lessons. It will allow you to block the connection yourself."

"Can I learn Legilimancy too?" Harry asked mischievously.

"Just what kind of books are you reading in the library?" Dumbledore said smiling broadly. Harry started to turn red.

"Everything that might be useful, and fun," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Indeed, well, yes, learning Legilimancy goes hand-in-hand, so you'll learn that to a small extent." Harry grinned broadly. "There is a small problem however." Harry's grin started to fade a little. "There are only two people qualified to teach you. I am one of those, but I'm not going to have the time."

"Well that's okay as long as it isn't Snape."

"Professor Snape."

"Yeah, him."

"I'm afraid it is him, though." Harry's smile was completely gone now. "Don't worry, Harry, he and I have had a little chat and he will try to be civil to you, alright?"

"All right professor, I just wish you would teach me."

"Well, to the next point, why I won't have time to teach you. Does anyone know what a Horcrux is? Everyone just look at each other. "I thought not. Many have never heard of it. A Horcrux is an object that a wizard has placed a piece of his soul into." All eyes on him, the professor continued. "It is only a theory, but I believe in Voldemort did this, and that is why he didn't die when the curse on Harry backfired. I also believe that he made more than one, so I must research it. If they can be found and destroyed, then Voldemort can be killed."

"Then Hagrid was right," Harry commented.

"About what?" Hagrid asked.

"There wasn't enough human left in him to die."

"Exactly Harry," Dumbledore smiled. "When a wizard fractures his soul to make an Horcrux, he is less human, and most likely insane."

A little stunned, everyone finished their meal in silence, reflecting on what was said. Every now and then they would glance at Harry, who kept his focus down the whole time. Neville thought how close it was that could have been him. He knew he couldn't handle it. Ron was glad it wasn't him, but he was worried for his friend, as was Hermione. Hagrid thought that, as James and Lily's son, Harry would make it.

"Okay," Harry said suddenly when everyone was pretty much done eating, startling everyone. "So it's kill or be killed, I think I can handle that especially with all the people he's hurt. I'll want to get ready and learn what I need for when and if he gets a body. I guess that has to happen sometime. When it does I'll deal with it, but for now though, I'm not going to let training for that day rule my life. I do want to have fun too. I believe if I focus only on that, then he wins." Harry looked around at all of the concerned faces. "Enough of this, how about some dessert?" Harry smiled.

"Great idea," said Hagrid. "How about a big take to welcome Harry, the defeator of Voldemort, back to the wizarding world?"

"What? No, er," Harry stammered and blushed.

"Just kidding, Harry," Hagrid said and everybody chuckled and laughed, even Harry after a few moments.

"I've got a better idea," said Harry, "a cake celebrating Hagrid rescuing me from the Dursley's."

Now it was Hagrid's turn to blush fiercely behind his beard, and before he could say anything, Dumbledore waived his wand as he said, "Brilliant idea, Harry." A very large cake appeared with writing that said 'to our hero, Rubeus Hagrid'.

"I was o'ny doin' me job," Hagrid said shaking his head as he accepted the first large piece of cake.

Everyone enjoyed their cake, forgetting for a moment the seriousness of Harry's situation. That is, until Harry jokingly asked, "You haven't got any more surprising news, have you?"

"I'm afraid so Harry," Dumbledore said causing everyone to drop their fork. "Oh dear, perhaps I should have let you finish your cake first."

Harry just stared at Dumbledore, wondering what news could possibly be more startling then what he had already heard tonight. "Do I even wanna know?" He asked.

"Perhaps Harry, but it might make you angry. In fact, I'm a little angry myself. The fact is, we don't have proof either way, yet that is."

"What? What is it?"

"It's about your godfather, Sirius Black."

Hagrid looked up startled, as Harry ran to his bookbag and grabbed the picture of his father and his friends and stared at it. His friends had already seen the picture and remained silently concerned.

"Are you sure professor?" Hagrid said.

"Yes, most certainly he needs to know." Dumbledore said as he walked up behind Harry who was just staring down the picture thoughtfully. "Harry, Sirius Black is in Askaban prison for betraying your parents to Voldemort."

Harry looked up at Dumbledore, tears beginning to form, and said "I don't believe it, I mean, look at this picture. They were friends."

"They were best friends Harry, beyond brothers." came a new voice from the door.

Harry quickly turned to see that Hagrid had let in a new visitor. Looking much older than his picture, Remus Lupin was immediately recognized by Harry who had studied the picture from the moment he got it.

"I felt betrayed by him as well, Harry. We were all close. But I think I am correct in assuming, Professor Dumbledore, that you now question his guilt?"

"Yes, you are correct. The minister has let slip that there was no trial for Sirius before he was put in Askaban. I have requested all information be delivered to me regarding Sirius Black's guilt or innocence."

Harry walked slowly toward Remus, almost afraid that this wasn't real. He had dreamed of some unknown relation to come and rescue him from the Dursley's when he was younger.

Remus knelt down to eye level with Harry. "Harry, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. Between losing your parents and then the thought of Sirius' betrayal, and Peter's murder, it was just too much for me to handle. But I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere."

Harry hugged him and said, "I thought you weren't coming till Sunday."

Remus hugged back and replied, "The more I thought about you, the more I realised that I needed to get here, so I found faster transportation."

"I'm glad you're here, hang on, Peter's murder?" Harry pulled back to look Remus in the eyes.

Remus glanced at Dumbledore, who nodded that was okay to tell Harry. He returned his gaze to Harry, and said, "that's what I've believed all these years, that Sirius killed Peter too. There were witnesses who say that he did it, but... I... Just don't know anymore." Remus looked down. "all they ever found of Peter was a finger."

Harry looked down at the picture in his hands, and ran his fingers slowly over the glass. "I still don't believe it."

"I didn't want to believe it either, Harry, but all of those witnesses. Sirius was suppose to be the secret keeper of where your parents were hiding, so what else could it be?"

Harry ran his fingers over the image of Sirius, who was smiling warmly and waving. "Then tell me this," Harry looked around with a fierce concentration. "Was it in his nature to do something like that?" Harry said, thinking of the conversation between himself and Pip. "Or did everyone just judge a book by its cover?"

Remus looked a little shocked at his friend's son. "And a child shall lead them. I think you're right Harry. How could we have been so blind?"

"That's easy, Uncle Remus, Voldemort." Harry stated plainly.

Both Dumbledore and Hagrid were beaming with pride at young Harry. Then Dumbledore got a serious look on his face. "I will indeed press the Minister on behalf of Sirius. I shall definitely look into this further, as well as my research into the Horcrux."

"Good, could I maybe visit Sirius?" Harry asked.

The three adults just looked at each other knowingly for a moment before Dumbledore spoke. "I'm afraid not, Harry. I will personally check on him as soon as possible, however."

Harry noticed something odd in their glance, but let it go. As long as Sirius was okay, Harry wouldn't worry. "Okay, but I wanna know he's alright."

"Well, it's getting late. Shall we wrap this up?" Dumbledore said.

"One thing, Professor," Remus asked, "may I take Harry into Hogsmeade tomorrow to catch up a little more?"

"I think that would be a splendid idea, Remus. Alright with you Harry?"

"I'd love it, thanks, Uncle Remus."

Remus Lupin blushed a little but loved it. Everyone said goodnight to Hagrid and left, each going to their own dorms with Remus walking Harry down to the dungeons.

"I still can't believe you're in Slytherin, Harry," Remus said a short time after they left everyone else.

"Yeah, well, that's kind of a long story, but it's alright. _Purus Sanguis._" Harry said as they reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

"Harry, do you know what that means?" Remus asked as the wall formed an opening.

"Yeah, yeah, pure blood, blah blah blah. Don't worry about it. Me and my friends don't care about blood," Harry responded just as an older girl from Gryffindor walked out, quickly followed by a boy from Hufflepuff.

Remus did a double take. "I guess you're right. It seems old rivalries die pretty easily these days. Might you have anything to do with that?" Remus smiled.

Harry just grinned sheepishly. "I'll see you in the morning, Uncle Remus," Harry said and gave Remus a quick hug.

"Goodnight, Harry." Remus smiled.

Harry quietly walked to his dorm room and found the other first years already asleep, the hangings pulled closed on all of their beds. He quickly stripped down to his underwear and climbed in, pulling his hangings down. He didn't feel like wearing the Hogwart's pajamas. He had tried them the past few nights, but they were just too binding and uncomfortable. He lay there for several minutes and started feeling claustrophobic. Since he wanted to be left alone he thought it best to leave the hangings down, but it was too stuffy, and he couldn't sleep. Then he had an idea.

"Pip," Harry whispered.

There was a faint pop and the bed sagged slightly. "What is yous doing awake? Yous is supposed to be asleep."

"I know, Pip, but these dungeon's feel too much like my cupboard under the stairs. Could you maybe put a magical window here at the head of the bed so I could get some air and maybe look at the stars?"

Pip looked a little nervous and said, "I really isn't supposed too, but...alright." He looked nervously about and then snapped his fingers and a small window a little larger than a half metre square, set back with a deep window sill.

Harry scooted forward and opened it allowing a slight breeze to waft in. He leaned out and looked down, it was quite a long way down. He quickly pulled back out of fear.

"Don't worries, Master Harry, tis enchanted. You can't fall out, and wind will disappear quickly so's that nobody else will feel it. Nobody can sees it from the ground either." Pip gave a slightly mischievous smile.

"But what about here?"

Pip snapped his fingers again and a tarp with Hogwart's crest on it appeared in front of the window. "See? Just ties this back out of the way at night."

Harry smiled and glanced down again. "But where is it outside? It kinda looks familiar."

Pips smiled again and gave Harry a wink. "Look out again to the left," he said before disappearing.

Harry was puzzled and looked out again. To the left about a half metre away was another window. Harry peered really close and saw a mop of red hair just inside made visible by all of the stars that were out.

"Cool," Harry muttered to himself and smiled before settling down to sleep himself. He was going to try and knock on the window, but Ron looked like he was already asleep, and Harry was tired himself, so he decided to tell Ron in the morning.

"We're always watching over you, things will be alright now," Lily said.

"And we love you very much, son,"James added. "and tell Remus it's cool, Voldemort is the one to blame for all of this. You'll do okay, kiddo. We're really proud of you."

Harry slowly awoke from a good sleep and a good dream. He glanced above him out the window to a beautifully sunny day. He closed the window and untied the tarp, letting it fall, completely covering the window.

'Magic is so cool' Harry thought to himself as he pulled on his robes. He hit the bathroom and then went down to breakfast. He waved at Remus who was at the head table talking with the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall.

Remus gave a hearty wave before continuing his chat.

"Who's that Potter?" Malfoy said with a hint of the old Malfoy snobbishness in his voice.

Ignoring Malfoy's attitude, he said, "That's my Uncle Remus."

"I thought all your surviving family were muggles, Harry," commented Paulo.

"Well, he's actually a good friend of my father. He's, er, here to help with my little problem. He has a, er, similar problem, and knows how to deal with it."

Paulo got a certain look in his eyes that Harry knew too well. "It's okay, Paulo. He didn't handle my parents death very well, that's why he wasn't around. But Dumbledore wrote him and he realised he needs me as much as I need him."

"Aww, how pathetic," Malfoy said.

"Shut up, git," Harry replied through gritted teeth.

"Harry, take it easy. Malfoy, give it a rest before i give you detention with Filch," Paulo said sternly.

"Sorry Paulo," Harry said as Malfoy just glared and turned away.

Harry was staring over at the Hufflepuff table, Neville had gotten a remembrall from his gran and was showing it to Hermione at the next table who was explaining that the little glass sphere would turn red when he had forgotten something, when a voice broke his concentration.

"Here, Potter. Drink this, should go nice with your breakfast," Snape said from out of nowhere as he handed Harry a goblet filled with a steaming potion.

Harry glanced up at Dumbledore and Remus, who was holding a similar goblet. Remus made the cheers motion and downed it all at once. Harry looked down at his goblet, and sniffed.

"Go on Potter, you have no choice in the matter." Snape grinned evilly.

Harry looked back to Remus and Dumbledore. They both nodded and Remus mouthed the words, 'do it quick'.

Everyone now had their eyes on Harry and watched with baited breath, as he held his nose and downed it as quick as he could. He tried to hold a straight face, but it only made it worse. Everyone chuckled at the face he ended up making.

"Oh ha, ha, ha. Very funny. The butterbeer people got nothing on you Professor. Don't quit your day job," Harry said as he chuckled a little himself and smiled up at Dumbledore and Remus.

"Pretty bad, Harry?" asked Paulo

"You've know idea. Eech." Harry said and started to take a drink of pumpkin juice when Snape stopped him.

"Sorry, Potter, but you need to wait at least 15 minutes before anything else. Sugar renders the potion useless."

The pout that Harry made was even funnier, and Malfoy laughed so hard he fell off his seat. Harry wanted to get mad and just stared at Malfoy laughing on the floor, but couldn't keep an angry face and started laughing at him.

"You know, Draaaaaco," Harry said as he waved his wand under his sleeve and muttered a quick spell. "This is so funny, I know. But, I think there is one thing even funnier."

Malfoy stopped laughing really quick and opened his eyes and stared at Harry, slightly afraid. "W..what?"

"This!" Harry said and lowered his hand dumping a bowl of chocolate pudding on Draco's head.

The whole room, which had been silent as the grave watching, burst into laughter. Even Snape couldn't help but to give a little smirk at the boy sitting on the floor covered in chocolate pudding.

"How dare you!" Malfoy yelled out.

"Oh, come on Drake, if I could laugh at me then you certainly should be able to laugh at you." Harry held out his hand to help him up.

Malfoy grabbed his hand, but Harry didn't see that he had grabbed the silver pudding bowl in his other hand. Once on his feet, he quickly brought the bowl down hard on Harry's broken arm.

Harry dropped to ground, clutching his arm, gritting his teeth, trying not to scream or cry as a few tears trickled down his cheek. Everyone stood back as the Professors tried to make their way to Harry and Draco.

"Stop," Snape said to no avail as Harry maintained a small amount of control and brought his good arm up, releasing his wand.

"_Fligendo,_" Harry cried out. A purplish light shot out of his wand and knocked Draco and Snape to the floor and back a few feet.

"Harry!" Dumbledore shouted as Harry retracted his wand and clutched his left arm again.

"Sorry, Professor. Had to do something. Sorry," Harry said through gritted teeth.

"What was that spell you used? It doesn't sound familiar," Remus said as he helped Snape and Malfoy to their feet.

"It's an old training charm, similar to the '_protego_' shield charm," Hermione said confidently.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Neville said as Madame Pomfrey made her way through.

"Well of course he's not alright, Mr. Longbottom, please stand back," she said as she examined Harry's arm. "I'm sorry Mr. Potter, too many injuries without proper healing. Surgery is the only remaining course of action."

Harry's eyes went wide as she helped him up and began to lead him away.

"Don't worry, Harry, I've been through it," said Neville as he, Ron, and Hermione followed along with McGonagall and Remus. "It feels kinda weird, but it doesn't hurt. Oh, and you really don't wanna watch."

"Minerva, will you handle the forced splinching while I operate on the arm?"

"Yes, of course."

"Forced splinching? You're not gonna.." Harry started but Pomfrey cut him off.

"I'm afraid so, the pain the other way would be intolerable to Voldemort himself. There is no known potion or charm to even dull the pain for this procedure."

Harry gulped as they approached to door to the hospital wing, and his knees got a little weak. Remus stepped up and helped.

"All of you wait outside, you included Mr. Lupin," Pomfrey said. "It will take about an hour."

"Can...can, er, Neville come with?" Harry pleaded. "He's been through it and all."

Pomfrey looked annoyed, but finally relented. "Oh, very well, Mr. Potter. Mr. Longbottom can come inside."

Harry turned to Neville, who looked a little unsure, but then got a look of determination and followed them in.

"But I'm his best friend," Ron whined.

"But Nev's been through it," Hermione replied as they watched the door close. "Don't worry Remus, it is a simple procedure," she said when she saw Remus, who was looking a little pale, but took her words to heart and nodded.

Inside, Pomfrey was getting everything ready. She cast a sterilizing charm on the room and everything in it.

"Can't you just put me to sleep?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not, Harry," McGonagall said. "The splinching doesn't work correctly if you're asleep.

Once he was lying down on the table, Pomfrey conjured a strap around his upper left arm to hold it in place. "Everyone ready?"

"Look at me, Harry," Neville said from his right as he grabbed his right hand in the traditional arm wrestling hand shake. "Just focus on me, it'll be okay."

Harry heard McGonagall mutter a spell and felt his left arm go completely numb in an instant. He squeezed Neville's hand and kept his eyes locked on Neville's.

"Good, Harry, just keep looking at me," Neville said as he stared at Harry. Several minutes later when Pomfrey made a comment about the bones not being too badly broken, he glanced over and went a little pale. He quickly returned his gaze to Harry, who started to look over, but Neville pulled his jaw back towards him with his free hand and said, "No, Harry, focus on me." Neville swallowed hard and said, "You really don't wanna see that, just look at me."

After about another fifteen minutes or so Harry suddenly could feel his arm again, but there was no pain, just a little soreness is all.

"All done, Mr. Potter," Pomfrey said, and Harry finally removed his gaze from Neville and looked down at his newly healed arm.

"See, Harry? Told ya, it was easy," Neville said as Harry turned back to him and shook his hand.

"Thanks Nev, thanks a lot," Harry said with a wide smile. Then he turned to the adults. "Thanks Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall."

"Not a problem young man, just TRY and stay out of trouble," Pomfrey said as they went out into the hall.

"You alright, mate?" Ron asked worriedly.

"No problemo, Ron," Harry said as held up his arm and wiggled the fingers. "It was really weird, but Nev got me through."

Remus looked relieved and let out a sigh.

"Good job, Nev," Ron said.

"Yes, good job indeed, five points to Hufflepuff," Professor Dumbledore said as he walked up causing Neville to blush fiercely. "Everything alright, I see?"

"Everything's great, Professor. Uncle Remus, can we goto Hogsmeade now?"

"Not so fast, Harry," Dumbledore said. "I cleaned up Mr. Malfoy and gave him detention for attacking another student, but as you attacked him and Professor Snape, Severus insists upon punishment, and I quite agree."

Harry looked down at the floor and said, "You're right."

"Because of mitigating circumstances, he reluctantly agreed to accept loss of points from his own house. He plans on using it to try and teach Malfoy even more of a lesson. They're standing at the hourglasses now waiting, so, for attacking a student and a Professor, I deduct 30 points from Slytherin house."

Meanwhile, in the entrance hall, "See?" Snape said as the points were taken away. "You must think about your actions, Potter is unstable thanks to his, shall we say, unfortunate muggle upbringing."

Malfoy just nodded and headed for the dorm as Snape stormed off.

Back near the hospital wing, Harry and Remus were about to leave, but they saw the downcast looks of Harry's friends.

Then Harry got an idea. "Can my friends come to Hogsmeade too?"

"That wouldn't really be appropriate, Harry," Dumbledore said firmly.

Harry pouted a little and said, "Please, UNCLE Albus?"

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Nice try Harry, but no. Now, get their parents permission and perhaps next weekend we might go."

"Sorry guys," Harry said. "I'll be back soon, but I really need to talk to Remus."

They all nodded in understanding as Harry and Remus started to walk toward the entrance hall.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," Dumbledore added, causing them all to stop walking. "Harry, that was very clever and skillful use of on the spot magic for a practical joke. I award Slytherin House 31 points. Have a good day." Dumbledore then simply walked away whistling a little tune.

McGonagall just shook her head as she walked away leaving the others staring.

"See ya later," Harry said with a smile and left with Remus.

Once outside the gates of Hogwart's, Remus said, "That really was a pretty good joke, Harry. It reminds a bit of Sirius."

"What were they like at school? My parents and Sirius."

"They were great friends, Harry. In fact, in their fifth year, James, Sirius, and Peter, they..., well they proved their friendship, no matter of my condition."

Harry wondered what Remus didn't want to tell him, but figured he would tell him when he was ready, and didn't press the matter as they chatted, and continued on their way to the village.

Several hours later they had lunch and then decided to head back. As they were walking down the lane, they came upon an old boarded up house, and Remus stopped, and just stared.

"Isn't that the shrieking shack?" Harry asked.

"What? Oh, yeah, that's the shrieking shack."

"Cool. I don't hear anything though. No shrieks, I mean."

"Well it is just rumored to be the most haunted building."

Remus started heading up the lane again and Harry followed. Remus was unusually quiet and Harry figured he was just all talked out, as they had been talking all day.

As they approached Hogwart's gate, Remus knelt down and looked Harry in the eyes. "I was really proud of you earlier when you were laughing at yourself. I want you to try and have fun, and forget the bad stuff that's happened to you. That really was a good prank, though. You're so much like your father, but you've got your mother's eyes. But that joke made me feel almost like Sirius was here too. I just wish that I had been here for you."

Harry smiled and gave Remus a hug and said, "Thanks. I had a dream last night. Dad says it's cool, and to blame Voldemort for everything."

Remus hugged back and said, "Thank you, Harry."

Ron was sitting on the steps just staring at the ground, and seemed a little depressed. When he looked up and saw Harry and Remus approaching he jumped up and almost ran to meet them.

"Not too bored, were you Ron," Harry said smiling, as Ron blushed a little. "I'll see you later Uncle Remus," who smiled and walked toward the lake.

"C'mon, I wanna show you something," Harry said and walked swiftly inside. He stopped at the stairs and said, "Alright, go up to your dorm and look out the window by your bed."

"How did you know there was a window by my bed?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"Just go, and you'll find out."

"Alright," Ron said, confused, as he made his way to his dorm. "What could he show me?" Ron muttered to himself.

Finally Ron made it to his dorm and walk over past his bed to the window. He opened it and leaned out. He looked to the left and then got a big surprise when he looked right and saw Harry just sitting there, leaning out a window that wasn't even a meter away.

"Bloody hell!"

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah, that's some fancy magic, that is. You gotta show me how you did it."

"I didn't do it actually, Pip did. It was too stuffy for me in this dungeon, kinda reminded me of my old cupboard."

"Oh. Well its cool anyway, now we can talk at night."

"Yep, hey, isn't it getting close to dinner? Let's go."

"Yeah, see ya there, Harry."

The next few days were uneventful. Malfoy was trying to be more restrained, but the snob side was always trying to show itself, and show itself it did during the flying lessons the following Thursday.

The first years from all four houses were having their flying lessons together. At 3:30 in the afternoon they all met out on the quidditch pitch to find the school brooms spaced out on the grass.

Harry had been looking forward to this ever since he found out about brooms. He really wanted to try his Nimbus, but learning to fly was very important. He didn't want to wreck his new broomstick, so he planned on paying very close attention.

"I hope I don't make a fool of myself," Harry said as he looked up in awe at the quidditch pitch, "especially with Malfoy bragging so much about how he can fly."

"You'll be alright, mate," Ron said.

"I'd be more worried about me," said Neville, who was as pale as one of the ghosts. "I think I'd rather keep my feet on the ground."

"Don't sweat it, Nev, it's really not that hard," Ron said, trying to ease his friends fears.

Soon, a lady with short, grey hair and eyes yellow like a hawk arrived. "Good afternoon, my dears, I am Madame Hooch. Well, what are you waiting for, Stand by a broom, hurry up."

They all did so, and Harry noticed that the school brooms were really old and worn. His new nimbus should really put them to shame. He was getting more excited by the minute.

"Alright, now place your right hand over your broom, and say, 'Up!'"

"Up!" everyone shouted.

Harry's broom jumped right into his hand as if to say, 'come on, let's play.' and all Harry could do was mutter "woah."

Ron's broom stuttered a bit, then jumped up suddenly and hit him in the face, causing Harry to laugh. "Awe, shut up Harry," Ron giggled.

Hermione's just rolled over and Neville's didn't do anything at all.

Once everyone had their brooms in hand, Madam Hooch showed everyone how to mount their brooms so they wouldn't slide off the end, and then went around correcting their grips. Harry and his friends were delighted to find out that Malfoy had been doing it wrong all along.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, I want you to kick off from the ground, hard. Then keep your brooms level and steady, rise a few feet, then come back down by leaning forward slightly. Alright, ready? Three, two,.."

Neville was so nervous that he pushed off early and started to rise into the air. He leaned back from the momentum and cause the broom to shoot upward like a cork out of a bottle.

"Come, back! Mr. Longbottom!" Madam Hooch said, but had to dive out of the way as Neville slid off the back, and hanging on by one hand, and caused the broom to spiral and shoot back down, dragging him along the ground right toward her. It then shot back up and got about 20 feet in the air before Neville lost his grip and fell.

Wham! Neville hit the ground hard, landing on his arm. The broom just kept going and was soon out of sight.

Madam Hooch ran over to Neville and checked him over. "Ah, broken wrist. Madam Pomfrey will fix you right up." Then turning to the others, she said, "All right, I've got to take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. All of you will keep your feet on the ground or you will be out of Hogwart's before you can say Quidditch."

Neville, his face tear streaked, hobbled off with Madam Hooch while clutching his wrist.

Malfoy's snobbish side showed up again as he grabbed up the remembrall that Neville must have dropped. "What a great lump. If maybe he gave this a squeeze, he might have remembered to fall on his fat arse instead."

"Not again," Harry muttered. "Enough, Malfoy. Give it here."

Everyone backed away, expecting the worst.

"No, I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find, like up a tree," Malfoy smirked and took off. He hadn't been lying, he really could fly. "What's the matter Potter, a bit beyond your reach?" he taunted as Harry looked up in frustration.

Harry just growled and said, "Screw it." as he climbed on his broom.

"No, Harry," Hermione pleaded, "I don't want you to get expelled."

"No bullies, Hermione. I promised myself," Harry said and quickly kicked off.

Up he went, with the wind whipping about his hair that had started to grow out. He felt an incredible sense of freedom and joy. His anger was gone, and he was left with a sharp focus on the matter at hand, so he zipped around Malfoy and came up to face him.

"Hand it over, Malfoy," Harry said calmly yet sternly, "or I WILL knock you off your broom."

Malfoy got a scared look on his face, then tried and failed to regain his composure. "Fine, catch," he said and threw it high over Harry's head.

Harry quickly zipped around upside down and took off. Slowly spinning right side up, he headed upwards toward the remembrall, but at the top of its arch, the wind caught it and blew it out of his reach. It fell quickly but Harry was able to change direction quickly as well and dived after it. Heading toward the ground and gaining speed, he caught it about 3 feet from the ground. He quickly pulled up and hopped off the back of the broom in one smooth movement, as if he'd been flying all his life.

Up in McGonagall's classroom, Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall had met at about 3:15 to discuss, of all things, Harry.

"I still say you're giving in too much to him, giving him too much freedom," Snape said.

"But Severus, he's been through hell," McGonagall said sternly.

"Who hasn't?" Snape snarled.

"Please, Professor's, it was my mistake regarding Harry, and I will make up for it as I see fit," Dumbledore said with a tone of finality.

"Bah," Snape said as he walked over to the window and looked out to the Quidditch Pitch to see the first years gathering around. "Why should I be the one to teach him Occlumency?"

"Severus," Dumbledore continued as he walked to the window as well, "you must get over this problem you had with James. He his Harry, and while he may definitely be his father's son, he is also his mother's son, and I will be too busy to teach him. Voldemort is still a threat."

"That is most definitely true," McGonagall said as she joined them. "Harry has a good heart and a good spirit that was almost beat out of him. I won't let you beat it out of him either."

"Really?" Snape smirked.

"Oh, grow up, Severus," McGonagall said as Neville took off early. "Oh my!"

"Madam Hooch can handle it I'm sure, Minerva, Dumbledore said as Neville fell.

"I swear that little snot is really starting to give me a pain," Snape said as he watched Malfoy.

"Wait," Dumbledore said as they started to go break it up, "I want to see how Harry handles this."

They all watched as Harry took off and caught the remembrall. They were amazed and Dumbledore smiled as he said, "yes indeed, he is his father's son. I know for a fact that was his first time on a broom."

"I want him on the house team as seeker," Snape suddenly said with an evil grin.

"First years aren't allowed Severus," McGonagall said firmly.

"Come now, tell me truthfully, if he was in Gryffindor you would bend the rules for the famous Harry Potter."

"Yeah, but that's because we don't have a seeker." McGonagall blushed as she gave herself away.

"Well, you said to give him some space, make up for things. UNCLE Albus," Snape smirked.

Dumbledore blushed and said, "He's right Minerva, would we do any less if he weren't in Slytherin? The students are learning to let go of fierce house rivalries, we should do no less. Let him play, Harry needs this, didn't you see all of his anger at Mr. Malfoy vanish from his face the moment he took off?"

"Good, I'll go tell him," Snape said triumphantly, knowing his winning streak would surely continue. "Oh, I'm sure we will get him a Nimbus 2000, I know you would if he was in your house, Minerva."

"Aaah, no need for that, Severus," Dumbledore sighed.

"You let him get one already, didn't you?" Snape smirked again. "It's in his trunk right now, isn't it?"

Dumbledore and McGonagall just stood there looking guilty.

"Ah, the last word is sweet," Snape said as he actually smiled. "I wonder what dear old James would say knowing his only son was playing for me on the Slytherin house team. So sweet indeed," and he walked out the door.

"Wow, Harry, you sure that was your first time?" Ron said, eyes wide, as Harry walked over holding the remembrall up.

"Yep, it was really awesome too, I can't wait to try out the you-know-what," Harry replied as Malfoy just sulked.

"Just be glad no one saw," Hermione started, but stopped as she saw Professor Snape walking towards them looking annoyed yet defiantly happy. "Uh oh," she said causing them all to look toward the school.

"Oh shit," Harry said when he saw Snape.

Malfoy didn't know what to think, but went pale as Snape approached him first.

"Mr. Malfoy, if you don't stop these actions that are so unbecoming a Slytherin, I will put you in Hufflepuff, understand?" Snape said and Malfoy just nodded as Ron giggled. "Quiet, Mr. Weasley. Mr. Potter, a display of talent like that will NOT go wasted. As of this moment you will be playing lead seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch Team. I expect you to keep our winning streak going. See Marcus Flint this evening, he is the captain, and will explain things to you." As he turned to leave, he added, "and see me in my office at 8pm for the extra lessons the Headmaster spoke of."

Everyone just stood there in shock, especially Malfoy, as Snape then walked away swiftly. Nobody moved from their spot for at least five minutes until Madam Hooch came back and blew her whistle, and informed them that class was over for today. She then congratulated Harry, saying that he must have real ability to impress Professor Snape like that, which left Harry, his three friends, and Malfoy staring with mouths open again. Hooch blew her whistle again and they started walking back up to the castle, still stunned in disbelief.

"What do you make of that, Harry?" Ron said as they went inside.

"I don't know, Ron. Imagine, though, I'm on the Quidditch team," Harry said, ecstatic.

"Yes, and I do NOT expect your studies to suffer either," came a stern voice from behind them.

Harry looked up and said, "Don't worry, Aunt Minerva, I can handle it."

"That will be enough, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said with a slight smile. "I would expect the youngest player in 100 years to be a little more dignified," she said before turning and walking away.

"Wow, I think that was a compliment, Harry," Hermione said.

"Harry, I just heard, I can't believe it," Neville said, running up to meet them.

"You alright, Nev? That was pretty quick," Harry said.

"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey can mend bones in a snap."

"Wish she had been around that night in my cupboard," Harry said looking down.

"Cheer up, mate," Ron said. "Your bones are fine now, and you're on the Quidditch team."

Harry looked up and grinned, "Yeah!" They all then headed to the library to discuss the finer details of Quidditch.

In the library, Ron elaborated on things they found in a few books, and was very happy, practically giddy at being able to teach his friends for a change. He was indeed quite knowledgeable.

After a couple of hours, Flint showed up. "There you are, Potter. Come with me, I want to discuss some things about Quidditch with you," he said with a slight scowl.

"That's okay, we can talk here. My friends and I have been talking about Quidditch all afternoon," Harry replied.

"I don't think so, I don't want it getting back to the other house teams. Now get moving."

"It's okay, I'll see you all at dinner," Harry said to his friends before following Flint out.

Flint lead Harry back to the empty Slytherin common room, over to a corner, and stopped.

"Alright, muggle boy, you got Quidditch figured out, do you?"

"Er, yeah. My friend Ron knows a lot about Quidditch," Harry said a little puzzled.

"Good. I don't have time to hand hold some snot nosed firstie muggle boy. You better be good. Snape made me take replace our current seeker with you. Get this straight, we've got a winning streak, and I don't want to lose. Be on the pitch tomorrow, last period."

"I've got Defense Against the Dark Arts class then."

"Skip it, Snape gave you permission. I've got to find how just how screwed I am. Nimbus or not, you better not screw up my chances at the Quidditch cup."

He then left in a huff leaving Harry to his own thoughts.

"Don't worry about it, Harry, " came a voice suddenly.

"What? Oh, hey, Paulo."

"He's just a bit of a arsehole, but it'll be okay. I'm a reserve chaser, so I'll be there tomorrow too."

"Thanks Paulo."

"Cool, let's go up to dinner, I want to hear all about your first time on a broom." Paulo smiled and they left.

Ron sat at the Slytherin table to the disgust of Fred and George, who were beaters on the Gryffindor team. Ron, Harry and Paulo talked about Quidditch the whole time. Some of the other members of the Slytherin team even joined in the conversation.

As 8 o'clock approached, Harry bid his friends and teammates farewell and headed nervously down to Snape's office. He knocked lightly on the door and was rewarded with a harsh 'Get in here, Potter'.

"Sit down, Potter," Snape said after Harry entered. "I don't really expect someone of your age to able to learn Occlumency. But our kind Headmaster seems to think any progress would be a good use of our time."

Harry looked around at the things floating in jars before returning his gaze to Snape.

"I can do this. Voldemort is close by, and I need this," Harry said with both a pleading and determined look in his eyes.

Snape stared at Harry, calculating. "Fine, every night, you need to clear your mind of everything. Let go of all emotion. Then you should eventually seal your mind from any intrusions."

Harry thought about how easily he broke the imperius curse that night with Moody, this shouldn't be too difficult.

Snape pulled out his wand and was about to tell Harry to do the same, but Harry was standing with it already out. "No need to be so jumpy, Mr. Potter. You may use your wand to attempt to disarm me, or defend yourself in any other way you can think of while I attempt to break into your mind."

"Are you sure about that? I don't want to hurt you...much," Harry smiled mischievously.

"Don't worry, Mr. Potter, you're not likely to hurt me, as I will be expecting it, this time. That combined with the potion, and I will be perfectly alright. Ready now, _Legilimens_!"

Harry was unprepared when Snape struck and the office blurred around him. Images and feelings flew through his mind blinding him to his surroundings.

He was five, watching with jealousy as Dudley rode a new red bicycle...He was seven, and screaming at his Uncle about sending him to an orphanage before being hit...He was nine, and his Aunt Marge's bulldog Ripper had chased him up a tree and the Dursley's were laughing at him...He was almost eleven when his Uncle broke his arm and leg...He was eleven and Hagrid rescued him and he was telling off Dumbledore...On and on, image after image, and Harry couldn't stop it. The the image and feeling of flying came and Harry was able to focus. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his knee. Snape's office became clear again and he realised that he had fallen to the floor; one of his knees had hit Snape's desk.

Snape was getting up from the floor. "The _Fligendo charm_ shouldn't have that much strength, Potter."

"I know, but it's the only one that I know that isn't supposed to be deadly."

"You let me get in too far, you lost control until the flying image."

"You saw everything I saw, didn't you?"

"Flashes of it. To whom did the dog belong?"

"My Aunt Marge," Harry said, embarrassed.

Snape shook his head and sighed. "No need to be embarrassed, Mr. Potter. It was out of your control, and such an attitude is very un-Slytherin, you don't want me to put you in Hufflepuff do you?"

Harry looked up, almost puzzled. There was a smirk that was almost a smile on Snape's face. Harry wiped his face on his sleeve and stood up straight, determination on his face.

"Very good, Mr. Potter. One thing you might wish to know, the level of hatred that I sensed your Uncle Vernon has for wizardkind is rare. I have only seen it in one other place, and that would be either the Dark Lord or some of his followers regarding muggles and muggleborns such as Ms. Granger."

"Er, thanks...Professor. I'm sorry, I should have done better. I threw off the _Imperius_ the first try with Moody a couple weeks ago."

"Really now?" Snape said, a little startled. "Well, while the same skills are useful for both, there are fundamental differences that require more concentration for Occlumency. Remember, no matter what you have done, or who your parents were, you are still just eleven. But as a Slytherin, I do hold you to a higher standard. Now, again..._Legilimens_."

Harry was nearly ready this time as the images came. He was able to still see the office, but it became increasingly difficult as the memories and emotions took over. First, Dudley telling people not to be his friend or else to teachers turning a blind eye to his bruises. Suddenly the memory of freedom from the cart ride with Dumbledore under Gringott's gave him the clarity to make it stop. This time he stayed on his feet as did Professor Snape.

"Well Potter, that was a little better. You do seem to have your father's determination, but I would say it's your mother's skill that is helping you most."

"Wow, I bet that hurt."

"I have no idea what you mean, Potter."

"Yeah right, Uncle Remus told me all about you and my father. He helped me to understand that sometimes its just too hard to let things go. Especially since I look like my dad so much."

"Hmmm, he was the brightest of your father's little group. Thought's like that remind of your mother more than your father. Yes, it is hard, but as long as you continue to remind me of your mother, I will find it easier to remain civil with you."

"I appreciate the effort, SIR. But be aware that I am my father's son, and it seems, that I have a bit of Sirius mixed in for bad measure."

"That, Potter, I don't want to hear," Snape said with a slight chuckle before he turned serious again. "Meditate every night before bed, clearing your mind of emotion, and you will get better. Now please leave, see your father's face is becoming, shall we say, uncomfortable. Good night, Mr. Potter."

"Good night, Professor," Harry said and made a quick exit back to his dorm room.

Back in his dorm, everyone ignored him as he stripped and climbed into bed, pulling the hangings closed. He quickly tied back the tarp and opened the window. The breeze felt so good, but he hoped Ron was still awake. He leaned out and saw Ron staring right at him. They both jumped, as neither expected the other to be there. They both chuckled as Harry told Ron all about what happened.

Soon their conversation turned to Quidditch. They had been talking for a while when they heard a voice whisper from behind Harry.

"Pretty cool, Harry. Don't know how you got a window down here, but Malfoy was complaining that you were talking to yourself, loudly."

Harry looked back as he jumped. "Sorry, Paulo. I didn't realise it was so late."

"No problem, Harry. Is that Ron you're talking too?" he asked as Ron's voice wasn't carrying through.

"Yeah."

"Well, you better give it a rest, before his brother Percy finds out. He's a little too anal for my taste, but he'll probably make head boy."

"Okay, Paulo," Harry said as Paulo left. He leaned back out to Ron. "It's getting late, Paulo said we should probably watch out so Percy doesn't find out."

Ron went pale and looked behind him, then looked at Harry again, and sighed. "He's right, Percy would have a cow. I'll see you in the morning. G'nite Harry."

"G'nite, mate," Harry said before settling down to sleep himself. Tomorrow's adventure awaits.


	17. Pursuits Of Fate

_Hello again, I was gonna try and write more, but it felt like a good place to stop. Thanks for the reviews, and sorry for taking so long. I spent a lot of time with 'unveiling the future', because it wouldn't leave me alone. I have finally gotten some more ideas for it as well as this one. I'm also sorry if this chapter feels forced. But I was trying to get everything that I wanted in and my original beta has been under the weather since like chapter 12._

"**Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 17, "Pursuits Of Fate"**

Harry woke from another good dream, one flying around on his broom. Although he was still a little apprehensive about Quidditch after what Flint had said, he was definitely looking forward to flying a broom again.

Reassurances from Ron during Potions were of little help as Harry's excitement about flying was increasingly overpowered by his apprehension. At the end of class Snape caught him and Ron as they were leaving.

"Mr. Potter, you better pay more attention on the Quidditch pitch than you did in my class. I will not be made a fool of!" Snape said before striding off.

"Too late," Harry mumbled as they left the dungeon.

"Don't worry, I'll see you at lunch," Ron said as he headed for the DADA classroom while Harry made his way to the changing room.

"About time, Potter," Flint said when Harry arrived. "Put these on, they're the smallest Quidditch robes I could find. And be quick about it," he said, leaving in a huff.

Harry started to change, and was having a hard time with the oversize robes when Ron showed up.

"Here, let me help," Ron said, startling Harry.

"How come you're not in DADA class?"

"I was halfway there, when I realised that I couldn't leave my best mate to that shite, Flint."

"Thanks," Harry said.

"No problem, Harry. Bloody hell, these things are way too big for you," Ron said as Harry was finally dressed.

"Hopefully it won't be too bad, I've made do with my cousins big clothes," Harry said as he grabbed up his Nimbus 2000. They left the changing room and came face to face with Professor McGonagall.

"My, goodness," McGonagall gasped when the two boys looked up and realised that Ron was in for it for skiving off DADA.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, regaining his voice quicker than Ron.

"Oh, it's nothing really, it's just that for a moment, you two reminded me of Sirius and James."

"Thanks," Harry and Ron said in unison.

"Oh, no, now you're sounding like Fred and George, that we do not need," McGonagall said smiling. "Here, let me fix these robes, Harry."

With a wave of her wand, Harry's robes fit perfectly.

"Thanks, Aunt Minerva," Harry said as he examined his outfit.

"No need for that kind of talk, Mr. Potter. I've already fixed the robes."

"It's not that," Harry continued. "Professor Dumbledore said once that it was a pity we couldn't choose our relatives, and seeing what I have for relatives, I thought I would choose anyway. I'd much rather have you for an Aunt than my Aunt Petunia or Aunt Marge."

McGonagall's eyes got a little moist before she straightened up. "Thank you dear boy, but in class, I must insist that you please refer to me as Professor. Now, as Harry will be busy, back to class with you, Mr. Weasley."

"But please, Professor, I can help Harry. Fred and George had me play seeker all summer with them."

"Really?" McGonagall asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I usually play keeper or chaser with them every summer, but this time they painted a rock gold and enchanted it to fly so it would be more like a real game. They said I got pretty good, so I wanna help."

"Very well, Mr. Weasley, you may stay," McGonagall said with a very Snape-like calculating smirk.

The two marauders quickly headed for the pitch before she could change her mind. Once there, they noticed that Fred and George were sitting way up in the stands, obviously hoping to scope out Harry's alleged ability.

"About time," Flint said as he looked at Harry's robes and scowled. "What's he doing here?" He said pointing at Ron.

"He's here to help me," Harry said.

"Yeah, right. He's a Gryffindork. More likely a spy," Flint said angrily.

"I'm here to help my friend," Ron said firmly.

"I have given Mr. Weasley permission to assist Mr. Potter," McGonagall said suddenly behind them, causing all three to jump.

Flint quickly regained his composure and sneered at McGonagall. "I'm the captain."

"And I'm the Deputy Headmistress. He. Will. Stay."

Flint just glared at her. "Fine," he said before turning to Ron. "Stay out of the way."

McGonagall glared at him and strode quickly away.

Flint took Harry over to the rest of the team, including a very angry Terrence Higgs, who had been the seeker before Harry had joined the team. Once introductions were made, Harry was told to get on his broom and prove that he could at least fly.

The rush of freedom hit Harry again as he mounted his broom and took off. Harry doubted he would ever get tired of this feeling. The wind whipped through his hair as he put the Nimbus through it's paces. Up, down, left, and right he went at near top speed. Spiraling around in a large loop before diving from it's peak. He headed straight toward his teammates who dove out of the way just as Harry made a quick pull up and landed softly on his feet, holding his broom out in front of him, smirking perfectly like a Slytherin.

"How was that, Flint?" Harry said.

McGonagall had met both Dumbledore and Snape heading for the pitch, and the three of them stayed just out of sight, watching. They were a little stunned, as was Ron, Fred, and George. Most of the team were impressed as well, except for Flint and Higgs, who were sneering in a typical Slytherin fashion.

"So you can fly a little, that doesn't mean that you can play Quidditch," Flint scoffed. Then turning the team he barked out, "Cadmus, take my place while I watch from down hear."

He spoke briefly with the two beaters who frowned before he yelled for them to get in the air. He released the bludgers, the quaffle and finally the snitch and then watched as the practise game commenced.

Not bad, Snape thought to himself as he kept an eye on Cadmus, the half-blood had found time to practise over the summer holiday, and finally gotten good. Perhaps even better than Flint.

Harry swirled and flew around, trying to get a glimmer of the snitch. He flew up and back, then ducked as a bludger came his way. He dove and then had to pull up abruptly as the other bludger came soaring at him. He looked over at the beater, but couldn't read the emotion on his face.

Suddenly he felt the magic and heard the whining of the first bludger sailing toward him from behind. He quickly dropped and rolled, soaring in a wide arc back toward the other beater. With a fierce determination on his face, he flew very close to the boy, who ducked out of the way. They wanna play rough, no problem, Harry thought to himself as he swirled around and headed toward the other beater, who swiftly pelted a bludger toward him. He flipped over out of the way, and saw the other beater almost to him, bat in the air, ready to strike the bludger he had just avoided. His determination became fear quickly as the bat flew just amiss of the bludger, straight toward him. He spun sideways, but it wasn't enough and the bat caught his shin. He definitely hear a slight crack as he felt the pain shoot through his leg. He gritted his teeth and nearly fell off his broom as he made his way to the ground. He flipped over onto his back, dropping his Nimbus and clutched his leg. His chest heaving, he glanced up and saw an upside down image of the three Professors heading toward him.

McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore had saw something was wrong immediately and headed over to stop the game. Too late though as they saw the one boy hit Harry's leg in a poorly concealed attempt at cheating.

To everyone's astonishment, Snape got to Harry first and helped him to sit up.

"Not again," Harry said, gritting his teeth. "I'm getting really tired of broken bones."

Snape started to pick Harry up to carry him to the hospital wing, but thought better of it, and conjured a floating stretcher instead. After helping Harry into it, he stood up and glared at the team, who had gathered around.

"That's it, Flint," Snape sneered. "Not only will you receive detention with Filch, but you are off the team as is Higgs."

Higgs, who had been chuckling at the sight, stopped, his mouth agape. "You can't do that," he said.

"YES I can, and detention for you as well," Snape replied, and then turned to the rest of the team. "Such flagrant cheating is giving the house of Slytherin a bad name I had thought young Mr. Potter's obvious natural skill might have been enough to curb such inclinations. In any case, an unprovoked attack on a fellow student is beyond unacceptable, especially against a member of our own house. Mr. Cadmus, I see you have greatly improved your skills, and I am appointing you as the new captain. Any more of this type of behaviour will result in serious punishment. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," the team said all at once.

Snape then turned and guided the stretcher to the hospital wing, Ron quickly following and everyone else just staring after them.

"Albus, do you have the time?" McGonagall asked.

"I believe we have an hour before lunch, why?"

"Oh, I just thought that perhaps the world was ending, as Severus has developed a bit of a conscience."

Dumbledore just beamed at her as they walked back inside as Flint and Higgs stormed off, leaving Paulo to lead the practise, which he did very well.

Snape completely forgot that Ron was walking behind him because his mind was completely on Harry. He glanced down at Harry every now and then as they went to the hospital wing. Harry just kept staring back at him, with a look of contemplation on his face.

"What?" Snape finally said.

"I really appreciate this, Professor. But I thought that you, er, hated me, or my father, or, whatever?"

"As your head of house, it is my job to look after you. Confidentially, I thought I would find this unpleasant, at best," Snape said, his smirk trying to form a little smile, and Ron held his breath, trying to stay quiet.

"Then you meant what you said when you kicked Flint off the team?" Harry said, and Snape just nodded and then stopped.

"How do you do it, Potter?" Snape said, genuine puzzlement on his face.

"How do I do what, sir?" Harry replied, completely clueless.

"Have everyone, or nearly everyone...Ah, you are indeed your father's son," Snape said and continued their trek to the hospital wing. "He had a certain charm, that many seemed drawn to. Except myself, of course. But to me, yours seems more genuine, I imagine that would be your mother's contribution." Snape stopped again and stared hard at Harry, who looked puzzled. "Now this, I am finding unpleasant. The thought that I would have as much concern for James Potter's son as any of my Slytherins, that's just wrong." Snape actually grinned and took Harry the rest of the way to the hospital wing. He finally noticed Ron once they were there. "Not a word to anyone, Weasley," he sneered angrily. More angry at himself for showing such emotion and forgetting that Ron was there.

Madam Pomfrey healed Harry in about a second, and they all headed to lunch. Ron kept saying how brilliant Harry had been his first time out. Snape just politely nodded, he didn't want Harry to get a big head. No need to turn him completely into his father, Snape thought, and smirked to himself.

That evening, Fred, George and Ron had an impromptu three on three quidditch match with Harry, Paulo, and Adrian Pucey, who played chaser for the Slytherin team. Harry left his Nimbus in his room and used a school broom to make it more fair for Ron.

Professor McGonagall was staring out the window of her office, watching the boys playing when Dumbledore came in.

"Ah, Minerva. Remus and I will be taking Harry and his friends to Hogsmeade tomorrow," he said as he approached the window and gazed out onto the grounds. "Nothing should come up that you can't handle."

"How does he do that?" McGonagall said in wonder. "Look at them Albus. The rivalry is still there, but it's playful rather than vicious."

"I know, Harry has a good soul. He's both his father's and his mother's son, no doubt about it," Dumbledore said, smiling.

They continued watching as both Harry and Ron chased after the snitch. Ron knew Quidditch better and was therefore able to anticipate the snitch's movements, while Harry was better on the broom, quickly turning and staying with it. Eventually they both caught it low and landed on their backs, laughing, both having a hand on the snitch.

"Albus, I would like to put Mr. Weasley on our team. We still don't have a seeker, and it's obvious the practise he has put in with Fred and George."

Dumbledore had suspected something like this might happen since they allowed Harry to join the Slytherin team. The world wasn't black and white, and he decided that the rule of no first years on the team was more of a guideline than an actual rule. "Would you like to tell him, then?" Dumbledore finally said, smiling at her. "You may want to get him a Nimbus as well. If you don't, I'm sure Harry would find a way," he added and she nodded.

"That was brilliant," Harry said as he and Ron lay panting on the grass.

The other boys soon landed beside them. They heard cheers coming from about a dozen people nearby who had gathered to watch, and were now heading toward them. Harry recognized the tall girl with the spiky hair immediately.

"Pretty good, Harry," Nat said, smiling. "You too, Ron. They should let you on the team. It looks like Gred and Forge put you through the paces during the holiday, eh?"

"Yeah," Ron replied, still breathing a little hard.

"Nicely done, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said as she walked up. "But I expect you to catch it alone, during a real game. Understood?"

Ron looked up at her in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yes indeed, Mr. Weasley. I rather miss having the Quidditch Cup in my office. The Slytherins have had it for so long, I've nearly forgotten what it looks like."

"I'll send you a picture, Professor," Harry said, smiling evilly. "Even if you were to, er, get Ron a Nimbus, the Cup will stay where it's at."

"We'll see, Mr. Potter," she replied, raising her eyebrows. "I will be getting Ron a Nimbus. Consider it a signing bonus, Mr. Weasley."

Ron stared wide eyed between Harry and Professor McGonagall. "A Nimbus 2000? Really?"

"Of course, Ron," Harry interjected coolly, "Can't give you any excuses when I win."

Harry took off running, and Ron started chasing him. Harry leapt into the air and brought his broom up underneath him, and zoomed away. Ron just stopped and stared.

"We'll get you that broom as soon as possible, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall called out when she saw Harry take off. Ron was going to need as much practise time as possible if he was going to beat Harry.

The next day, Remus met Harry and his friends after breakfast, and they, along with Dumbledore, headed out to Hogsmeade. They toured the whole town slowly, taking in everything. After a couple of hours, Dumbledore and Remus took a break in a cafe, while Harry and the Marauders headed into Zonko's Joke shop across the street.

After a quick glance out the front window to make sure Remus and Dumbledore were occupying themselves in conversation, Harry lead them to the back of the shop near the fireplace.

"Alright, Marauders," Harry said with a gleam in his eye. "Hermione, Neville, I want you to distract Remus and Dumbledore if they come in. Ron and I have something we need to take care of."

"What?" Ron said puzzled.

"You'll see," Harry replied. "Now, er, we're going to floo to Diagon Alley, okay?"

Ron got a sly grin and nodded as Harry pulled out a small bag of floo powder. "Er, I've never done this before, Ron. I just throw the powder in and step into the fire, saying where I want to go?"

Ron nodded again and added, "Make sure you say it really clear. Once, I ended up in an abandoned building that was still connected to the floo network. I was only six, and it took them hours to find me. Really scary mate, I'm tellin' ya."

Harry threw a pinch of the powder into the fireplace, and the fire turned a bright green. Nervously, Harry entered and said "Diagon Alley."

Knowing a little bit about the physics of traveling by floo didn't help much. He spun, and tucked his arms in just like he had read in one of his books. Soon the dusty ride came to an end and he was spit out at the owl post office. He just caught himself before he fell, and stepped quickly away from the grate to wait for Ron.

Ron, ever eager for an adventure, quickly followed his best mate to Diagon Alley while Hermione and Neville waited, ready to distract Dumbledore and Remus until they got back.

"What's going on, Harry?" Ron said after they were outside, as Harry easily cast a cleaning charm on the both of them. "Wow, I wish I could do stuff like that."

"You will," Harry grinned, "as soon as we get you a decent wand."

"Huh?" was Ron's confused response as Harry then grabbed his wrist and pulled him quickly down the street.

"To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" Olivander said when Harry dragged Ron into the wandmaker's shop.

"You told me that a wizard doesn't do as good with someone else's wand," Harry said cheerfully, "so I want to buy my best mate here, a wand. Right now he uses a hand-me-down wand. I know what hand-me-downs are like, so lets do it."

"You're right Mr. Potter," Olivander said with a smile. "It's always best to have your own wand."

Ron blushed. "Harry, you really don't have to."

"Ron we talked about this, remember?" Harry retorted. "Besides, you're my best mate, and I want you to be able to do your best. Especially if some deatheater decides to go after you to get to me."

That sobered Ron up in an instant. "Thanks, Harry. And if they do, you can bet I got your back, mate. No worries," he said and smiled as Olivander began his glorious search for Ron's new wand.

After about a half hour, Ron had his new wand. They left and headed back to the owl post office when there was a voice behind them.

"Did you really think you could get away from us?"

They froze and turned around. Looking up, Harry said, "Sorry, Uncle Albus. I just wanted to get Ron a new wand."

Dumbledore's frown relaxed a bit. "You should have asked, we would have brought you. If any deatheaters were about, they might have tried to hurt you."

"Sorry, I guess I just wanted to have some fun," Harry said, looking down.

"I'm afraid the two of you will have to serve detention. With me, that is, tonight in one of the classrooms."

"Awe, man," they said together.

Dumbledore sighed and gave them a slight smile. "So much like your father, Harry. He and his friends served a few detentions as well. They were quite the handful. But after dealing with them, not to mention Mr. Weasley's older brothers, Fred and George, it was quite easy to give your two distractions the slip."

Harry looked up sheepishly. "Guess I'll have to try harder, then."

Dumbledore shook his head with a grin. "I guess I'll need to be more on my toes as well, then." Then he held out a package that Harry and Ron hadn't noticed he was holding. "You might want to try using this. It used to belong to your father. I was going to give it to you at christmas, but decided now might be better. To hide from the aforementioned deatheaters only, of course. It's an invisibility cloak."

Harry held the package with trembling hands as they continued down the street. Ron was wide eyed in awe. They didn't see where Dumbledore had taken them until they stopped and looked up.

"I believe Professor McGonagall promised you a Nimbus 2000, Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore said, smiling, as they were outside the quidditch supplies shop. Harry and Ron just smiled wide and ran in.

At eight o'clock that evening, Harry and Ron showed up at the empty classroom Dumbledore had specified for their detention.

"Come in, come in, boys," Dumbledore said as they entered. "You will be cleaning this mirror with this potion."

Harry and Ron stared at the large mirror next to Dumbledore. Harry walked in front of it, and saw what was unmistakably members of his family surrounding his reflection.

"Mom? Dad?" Harry said with wide eyes. "Ron, it's my parents, and...my family."

"Let me see," Ron said and bumped Harry, taking his position in front of the mirror. "Woah, It's me, and I'm head boy, and bloody hell! I'm quidditch captain too. I look pretty good. Professor, what does this mirror really do? I mean, it showed Harry his family and me, well, me as, er, I don't know. Being the best of my family."

Harry looked over at Dumbledore. "It shows what we want most, doesn't it?" He returned his gaze to Ron.

A tear slid down Ron's face as he exclaimed, "There's my mum and dad, and they look so proud of me finally." Ron turned away quickly and stared at the floor.

"You are quite correct, Harry," Dumbledore said as he walked over and put his hands on the boys shoulders affectionately. "Many have wasted away looking in this mirror. It does not do well to dwell so much on your dreams that you forget to live. Now if you would, clean this mirror thoroughly with this potion, and do your best to ignore what you see." Dumbledore then sat down at a desk and pulled out a small package from within his robes and began scribbling notes on several pages of parchment.

When they were finished they went over to the desk where Dumbledore was working. "We're finished, professor," Harry said and glanced over the desk, his curiosity brimming.

Dumbledore glanced up and then went over to the mirror. "Splendid job, boys. Splendid job. Now do try to stay out of trouble. I only ask that you try.

They met up with Hermione and Neville in the hall and told them all about what happened in detention. From the mirror and what they saw to what Dumbledore might have been doing.

"I'm sure your parents are proud of you, Ron," Hermione said after Harry clarified Ron's experience in front of the mirror.

"I know, it's just that with so many brothers, I feel like I got lost in the mess, ya know?" Ron said looking around at his friends, then got depressed again when he realised they couldn't know. They were all only children.

"Hey, mate. Let me tell ya," Harry tried, "sometimes I wished I got lost in the mess with what my relatives did to me."

"Yeah, I guess," Ron said sadly as they headed down the hall, none of them paying any attention to where they were heading.

"Hey," Harry said suddenly after they had been walking for a while, "where are we? I don't recognise this hall."

They all glanced up at him then looked at their surroundings. Hermione was first to speak.

"We're on the third floor. It's out of bounds," she said.

"Out of bounds?" Harry asked and the others just stared at her with questioning eyes.

"Yes, don't you remember the headmaster's announcements at the welcoming feast?" she replied with a certain air about her. "We're not supposed to be here."

"Me and Ron can't be caught here," Harry said in a panic when they heard a meow come from the end of the corridor.

"WE don't want to get in trouble, either, Harry," Hermione said in a bit of a huff, motioning to Neville.

"Sorry," Harry said heading toward the only door visible in the hall. After finding it locked, he pulled out his wand and uttered, "_Alohomora_."

They got inside and closed the door just as Filch entered the corridor. They breathed more easily as they heard Filch leave, muttering to his cat. They all turned around slowly when they heard a grumbling behind them. Meeting their gaze was a very large, very annoyed looking, three headed dog.

"Stay still," Harry said with his arms spread wide, as if to guard his friends. "and back out slowly."

Harry kept his eyes locked with the dog's eyes on the middle head, never blinking. Then a movie he had managed to sneak into a few years back came to mind, 'Crocodile Dundee'. He held his hand out and started to hum. Holding it's gaze on Harry, the dog yawned a bit but didn't move. Harry's humming wavered a bit out of fear and the dog yawned more widely this time. A tune popped into Harry's head, and before he could think, he started humming the tune. The dog immediately went straight to sleep, and the new Marauders left, breathing a sigh of relief.

As they headed along, Ron spoke up. "Did you guys see the trapdoor the dog was standing on?"

They all stopped and stared at him. "I was busy with its three heads, there Ron. No time to think much about anything else," Harry said.

"Well, I remembered that Hermione said this place was out of bounds," Ron countered, "so I looked around to see why, and thats when I saw the trap door. The way I figure it, that dog is guarding something. Why else would anyone put something like that in school?"

"Good point, Ron," Harry responded with a smile. "We better get going though, we don't want to find another way to get killed, or worse, expelled."

Hermione nodded in agreement and they moved on quietly. They split up eventually, Ron and Hermione heading off toward the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw common rooms, while Harry and Neville headed down towards the Slytherin and Hufflepuff common rooms.

Harry and Neville walked in silence for some time before Harry spoke up. "Are you alright, Nev? You've been quiet since that dog." Neville just looked at the floor. "It's alright to be scared, Nev. You know that, right?"

"But you weren't scared, though, were you?" Neville said quietly, without looking up.

"Yes I was, Nev," Harry said and tilted his head down to catch Neville's eye.

Neville turned his eyes toward Harry without raising his head. "You sure didn't show it."

"After what I went through with the Dursley's, I've just learned to handle it a bit better, that's all. Trust me Neville, give yourself time. You just gotta want to deal with it better."

"But, er," Neville trailed off shyly and looked down at himself.

Harry looked down at where he was staring. "It's okay, the same thing happened to me when I had a nightmare about my uncle." Harry pulled out his wand and whispered, "_Scourgify_."

"Thanks Harry," Neville said with a bashful smile.

Harry just put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at him, everyone seemed to be taller than Harry, and said, "No problem, mate. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Neville nodded and they headed off to their respective dorms.

The next day they were in the library when an interesting article in the Prophet caught Harry's eye.

"Hey guys, you too Hermione, check this out. There was a break in at Gringott's the same day me and Professor Dumbledore were there. Holy crap, the goblins say it was vault 713. That's the one that Dumbledore went to. The only thing in it was a little brown package...about...the same size as...the one on Dumbledore's desk...last night." Harry slowed down as things started to click into his head.

"What is it Harry?" Ron asked.

"I...don't...know. What would be so valuable but only be the size of a small rock?" Harry pondered out loud. "Something that might involve the headmaster."

"Hmmm, what was he doing with it last night?" Hermione asked them.

"He was writing a bunch of stuff, notes about something, I couldn't make it out," Ron said.

"I think it might have been arithmancy, but I couldn't be sure since we can't take the class yet," Harry added.

Hermione got up and returned a few minutes later with a book of advanced arithmancy. "Did it look like this?" she said opening it and showing it to Ron and Harry.

"Yeah, that's it Hermione," said Harry. "I've glanced at a few of the basic books, but they were beyond what I can do yet. What made you think of this?"

Hermione blushed and said, "I figured whatever Dumbledore might be doing would have been advanced spellwork. I saw you looking at those books, Harry. I've looked at the basic books too, I wanted to try and get ahead of you, but I couldn't figure it out either."

"You guys gotta stop that," Neville spoke up. "Me and Ron will never catch up if you keep doing stuff like that."

Hermione and Harry blushed fiercely as they got up to find something else to read. They were both perusing books in the same area when a book caught their eye. Harry reached up and pulled out a large and heavy book titled, 'Wizards Of The Ages' just as Hermione was reaching for it.

"Hey," Hermione said, "I wanted to read that book." And she grabbed it and tried to yank it from Harry's hands.

"No, I got it first," Harry responded and pulled back on the book. "I just need it for some light reading, that's all."

"No, Harry. I want it."

They pulled back and forth and the book finally flew from their hands.

"Ow," Ron said when the book hit him on the head and fell open on the table. "Hey, look at this," Ron said, glancing down at the book.

Harry looked down and quickly read the section Ron was staring at. "Looks like fate won't leave me alone, doesn't it?"

They all just looked at Harry and finally Hermione spoke. "So the Philosopher's Stone is being guarded at Hogwart's. Big deal, it should be plenty safe."

"Yeah, maybe," Harry replied solemnly, "but someone already tried to steal it once, they probably will again."

"What's fate got to do with it, Harry?" Neville asked.

"I don't know, but I think it wants me to protect it. If Voldy wants to use it to get his body back, then it's probably me who has to protect it. It would be nice to know who the lackey is so I could maybe get it over with and enjoy Hogwart's rather then worry about it."

"Don't worry about it anyways, mate," Ron said cheerfully. "Whoever it is, we got your back."

"Yeah," added Neville. "We're the new Marauders. We'll get the bloke, whoever it is."

They all looked at Neville and then cheered him on, walking arm in arm out of the library before Madam Pince could shoo them out, laughing all the way.


	18. His Father's Son

_Finally got it done, though I feel it may seem forced in spots. Life, other stories, and my muse not letting me get through this chapter is what took so long. Thanks for the reviews and support, and I hope you like it._

"**Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 18, "His Father's Son"**

As Harry fell asleep, his thoughts were of his friends. And the fact that Voldemort was after the Stone. But no matter, his friends wouldn't leave him. It gave him a sense of pride to know that he was finally where he belonged. Even if destiny was chasing him, or more like stalking him.

Classes were going well, but Harry and his friends had no idea who might be after the stone. At first they thought Snape, but then Harry's scar hurt every time he entered the DADA classroom. Quirrell didn't seem likely, and eventually his scar stopped hurting. They discussed it in the library every chance they got. By the time Halloween came, they decided to ask Hagrid. They headed down to his hut before the big feast.

"Nobody is trying to steal the Stone," Hagrid said.

"Yes, there is," Harry said. "They tried that day in Diagon Alley."

"None of the teachers, Harry. They're all helping to protect it," Hagrid said plainly.

"So the three headed dog is yours?" Harry replied coolly as they got up to head to the feast.

"Fluffy is mine. And you're starting to act more like your father, Harry."

"Fluffy, cute. We already know how to get past it. Music puts it to sleep, even humming," Harry said as they made there way to the castle.

Hagrid started to reply but stopped as they all saw a shape in the shadows.

"Lumos," Harry said and his wand glowed with light. He aimed it all over but the shadow was gone. "What was that?"

"I don't know, Harry. Best get you kids up to the feast," Hagrid said, staring where the shadow had been.

The four friends were allowed to sit at each others table during this special feast. To avoid problems, they chose a spot at the end of the Hufflepuff table, much to Neville's delight.

"What do you think, Hermione?" Harry said with a bit of a gleam in his eyes.

"What?" she said, a little confused. "You think maybe that shadow was whoever might be after the you know what?"

"That's exactly what I think," Harry said with a smile.

"Then they might know how to get past the dog. They might have heard us," Ron said, ever the strategist. "We should keep an eye out for something odd."

Just as he said that, Professor Quirrell came running into the hall, his turban slightly off to the side and fear on his face. Everyone stared as he ran up to where Dumbledore was sitting. "Troll in the dungeons...thought you ought to know."

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

It took loud purple sparks from Dumbledore's wand to calm the ensuing uproar into silence.

"Prefects," he said, "lead your houses back to the dormitories at once. Professors, the ones who are awake, follow me."

In the near chaos while prefects tried to herd everyone out, Harry grabbed his friends and pulled them behind a tapestry.

"Are you guys up for it?" he asked quickly.

"But, we're supposed to go back to the dorms," Neville pleaded.

"Some rules are meant to be broken," Harry said. "I tried and tried to be the good little boy at the Dursley's, and it didn't help. Now I know I have magic and can make a difference. C'mon, life isn't black and white. I can see that between Dumbledore and the Dursleys. Between Voldemort and whoever is after the Stone."

"I'm sold, mate. Let's go," Ron said cheerfully.

Harry watched the other two for a minute and they finally nodded. The Great Hall had gone silent, and Harry glanced out from behind the tapestry.

"All clear," he said and they moved out. "Wait, Quirrell's gone."

"You think maybe?" Neville said nervously.

"I don't know," Harry replied and they headed out of the Great Hall.

They slowly made their way to the third floor, taking a few shortcuts they had memorized. All of the students had already made it to the dorms, and the professors were in the dungeons searching for the troll.

Harry wished he had his invisibility cloak with him, but fate was on their side as they didn't even encounter a ghost by the time they made it to the room where Fluffy stood watch. They found the dog fast asleep to the playing of an enchanted harp.

"Whoever it is, they sure worked fast," Harry sighed. "You guys don't have to come, in fact you might should go get Dumbledore. That prophecy was about me, not you."

"Harry," Ron said. "We're with you, mate. Let's get on with it."

They opened the trap door and stared down into the blackness.

"Anyone want to go first?" Harry offered.

He waited about a second before taking a leap of faith. The others took a deep breath and followed. Landing on something soft, they all relaxed, except for Neville, who quickly scrambled off to the side.

"Get off that," he yelled as he hugged himself against the stone wall.

It was too late though. They had landed on a plant with large tendrils that snake their way out and grabbed them, holding them tight.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"It's Devil's Snare," Neville said quickly. "It likes it dark and damp but hates sunlight."

"So cast a fire spell," Ron said desperately. "These things are getting tighter."

"I don't know any," Neville said tearfully.

"I can't reach my wand," Hermione said, struggling.

"You guys gotta stop moving, it makes it worse," Neville stammered out, his tears flowing now.

"Calm down, Neville," Hermione started forcefully, gaining Neville's attention. "The spell is 'innatoflagro'."

Neville raised his shaking hand and cast the spell. A small ball of fire floated from the tip of his wand, not bigger than a marble. It sputtered and nearly died out, then it suddenly flared like the sun. The plant actually shrieked and let the others go. They scrambled over to Neville as the ball of fire died out.

"Wow," Ron said. "Good going, Nev."

"It wasn't me," Neville said nervously and pointed over to Harry, who was standing back from them.

His eyes were glowing green with power and he was breathing hard, trying to regain control.

"You missed your potion, didn't you?" Hermione said sternly.

"Oops," Harry said quietly, as the green in his eyes dimmed and his cheeks blushed in the scarcely lit room.

"What was it like?" Ron asked excitedly.

"It was scary at first, channeling Harry's power, but then it felt pretty cool," Neville answered. "Harry, I'm not sure, but I think you're too powerful for a kid."

"It scares me too, Nev," Harry said.

"Could we get going?" Hermione interjected and the three boys stared at the floor and nodded.

They made their way down the tunnel, listening to the water dripping down the walls. It sloped downward and eventually leveled out into a room. They heard a rustling sound overhead, and saw what appeared to be birds flying about. Across the way was an old door, glaring innocently back at them in the dim light.

Harry led them over to the door carefully, afraid the birds might attack at any moment. The birds ignored them, and Harry attempted to unlock the door with 'Alohomora' to no avail.

"I'm gonna try and blast it apart with my magic," Harry said frustrated and his eyes glowed bright green.

"No, wait," Hermione grabbed him. "Those aren't birds, they're keys."

He looked up, and Hermione was right. "What do ya think, Ron? One more practise before tomorrow's game?"

"Yeah, mate," Ron said and grabbed two of the brooms that were leaning against the wall. "No offense, but you two aren't great on brooms," he said to Hermione and Neville who simply nodded.

Harry and Ron hopped on their brooms and kicked off, zooming high into the air.

"I'm thinking it's probably old fashioned and silver, like the door," Harry called out.

"I was thinking the same thing," Ron started and then caught site of such a key at the same moment Harry did.

The both took off after it, circling around to come at it from opposite sides. They dove through the cloud of winged keys as it tried to avoid them. Darting down, they followed, and just like their first practise game, they both caught it at the same time.

"Bloody hell," Ron exclaimed. "Tomorrow's game is gonna be something."

"Yeah, if we get out of here alive," Harry said as they landed and head to the door with a little difficulty, Ron had not let go of the key.

"Ron?" Harry said and the other boy blushed and let go.

The moment the door was unlocked, the key took off again and joined the others, glittering about the ceiling.

Stepping through into the next room, they found themselves in complete darkness for a moment before it was flooded with bright light, revealing an amazing sight.

They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind black pieces taller than themselves. Across the way stood the white pieces, blocking another door. The chessmen were frightening as they had no faces, and the young marauders shivered at the sight.

"There's got to be a quicker way than playing across," Harry said thoughtfully. "How did whoever is after the stone get through so quickly?"

"I don't know," Ron said as he noticed a final pawn on the other side reassembling itself. "I think he did play, that pawn just put itself back together."

"Okay," Harry said a little nervously. "I suppose we have to join you?" he said to a nearby chess piece that nodded in answer. "You're the chessmaster, Ron, tell us what to do."

Ron directed them to replace various pieces and the game began. Everyone was very nervous as the game went on. Ron kept them all safe though, as the other pieces were destroyed one after the other, on both sides.

Harry had been following as best as he could, and realised what was up when Ron hesitated. "Ron, no. You can't," he screamed.

"But it's the only way to win, Harry. I kept you all from getting hurt, but that's it, this is the only way," Ron said and made his move.

Hermione screamed as the white queen swung at Ron. Harry cried out in fear, and his magic flared up, blasting the offending statue to dust as it clipped Ron's shoulder. Ron grabbed his shoulder in pain as he was showered in white plaster. Harry turned in anger and decimated the remainder of the white chessmen.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked as Harry calmed some.

"I'm fine," Ron said rubbing his shoulder, "Let's go."

Harry was still a little juiced as they slowly entered the next room. The smell was pretty bad as they looked over and saw a very large troll with a lump on its head. It was waking up as Harry glared at it with glowing eyes. It roared, making them all jump. Harry gritted his teeth and waved a hand at it. It flew against the wall, and resumed its out cold status.

"Harry, you've got to calm down," Hermione pleaded.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt," he said through gritted teeth, and his eyes dimmed considerably as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"We're okay, mate," Ron said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Yeah, I know," Harry sighed. "The magic hurts, using it like this."

"You are controlling it better, though," Neville offered.

"Yeah," Harry sighed again and took several deep breaths. "Let's keep going, okay?"

They nodded and headed into the next room, Harry bringing up the rear, still a little shaken from channeling so much magic. Purple flames shot up in the doorway, catching Harry before he was all the way through. He looked around as his magic protected him from the magic of the flames. He stepped the rest of the way through and they rushed to him to be sure he was okay.

"I'm fine," he said in a dry voice as black flames sprung up in the other doorway. "I'm just tired. My magic protected me. More importantly, how do we get out now?"

The room was a little small and contained only one piece of furniture, a table with a piece of parchment and several bottles of varying sizes and shapes settled upon it. They looked at the parchment and found a riddle that would carefully direct them to the correct potion to get them through the fire. Hermione quickly figured out which was which, but there was only enough potion for two of them to go back, and two to go forward.

Harry looked at them all in contemplation. "I could use my magic to get through, but that would leave me too tired to fight whoever is on the other side. Two of you should go back and find Dumbledore, and get him here."

"I'm staying," Ron said firmly. "Hermione, Neville, you go back. It's the best balance. One too clever for their own good in each pair."

"Ha ha, very funny," Harry said with a grin, his magic under control again. "It does sound like a good plan."

"Okay, we'll hurry," Hermione said and she and Neville downed the purple potion and left.

"Ready mate?" Ron said as he held up the vial that would let them pass through the black flames.

"As I'll ever be," he replied and took his dose right after Ron.

They felt an ice cold chill run through them as the potion took effect. They grabbed each others hand and ran through the flames as if they were running through a lawn sprinkler. They weren't too surprised at who they found in the large chamber on the other side.

"I figured it was you, Quirrell," Harry said grimly and relaxed some of the hold he was struggling to maintain on his magic, letting it flare up visibly.

"Really Potter?" Quirrell said, turning away from a familiar large mirror.

"Yeah. I thought maybe Snape at first, but I could sense something in you during class a couple of times. But it stopped. I can feel it now though. Something about it is familiar, and something about it makes me very angry."

Harry's magic slipped more and flared, his eyes glowing with the green energy, spreading out along his body in a dull hue. Quirrell seemed genuinely afraid for a second, and Harry saw it.

"Afraid, Quirrell?" Harry said with a smirk and let his magic flare again, gaining more wild control of him.

"Not from a boy," he replied, though there was a tinge of fear in his voice.

He snapped his fingers and ropes sprang out of thin air, binding Harry and Ron tightly. "Now please be quiet, I know this mirror is the key to finding the stone, I see myself in it, presenting the stone to my master and we are using it to conquer all. But how do I get it?"

"Conquer all?" Harry laughed. "So Voldemort has you?" Harry added, trying to buy some time to figure out how to beat his professor.

"I go willingly, boy," he said as he stared at the mirror. "I met the Dark Lord during my travels. He showed me that there is no good and evil, only power, and those too weak to seek it."

"I guess that's true to a point," Harry said softly, allowing the partial truth to wash over him. "But being played by an murdering bastard is not how to get that power," he said more strongly.

"Shut up," Quirrell said harshly. "I must find out how to get the stone."

"Use the Potter boy," came a haunting voice from where Quirrell stood.

Quirrell whipped around, "Yes, come here," he said and waved his hand, causing Harry to levitate to him. "What do you see when you look into the mirror?"

Harry recognised the mirror, and before he could think of his deepest desire at the moment, he saw it in the mirror. Revenge. He thought about how the power of the stone would help him against Voldemort.

"I see myself using the stone, gaining its power and killing Voldemort," Harry said truthfully, with both cockiness and fear in his voice, because he knew the other voice coming from Quirrell must belong to Voldemort.

"Let me speak with him, face to face," came the strange voice Harry had assumed to be the Dark Lord.

"The boy has power, Master, you are not strong enough," Quirrell said.

"I have strength enough for this," came the voice again.

Harry and Ron were both horrified and repulsed at the sight before them when Quirrell removed the turban wrapped around his head. Red eyes glared at them from a chalky white face in the back of Quirrell's head. It had two narrow slits for nostrils, and a thin lipless mouth that spoke to Harry, ignoring Ron.

"See what I have become, Potter? Mere shadow and vapour. Holding form only when I possess another."

"Your own fault, arsehole," Harry gritted out, suddenly feeling emboldened, thinking of the fact this was the person who killed his parents.

"Foolish boy," Voldemort snarled. "Better to help me get the stone and join me, or you'll meet the same end as your parents."

Harry's anger and magic flashed, dissolving both his and Ron's ropes. Voldemort reacted with a bit of fear. "What do I need you for? If I can get the stone, I'll use it to kill you. Maybe even make those muggles I grew up with suffer. I can feel your fear through my scar. It is a link like I thought."

Voldemort's anger rose, and Harry grabbed his forehead in pain. "Impudent little boy," Voldemort growled. "I am stronger than you, you will get me the stone."

"I'll kill you if I find it, you bastard," Harry yelled out through the pain. "I'll make you hurt the way I have."

"Like this?" Voldemort laughed and sent more pain through the link, making Harry cry out.

"I'm gonna destroy you, Voldemort. I did it once, and I'll do it again," Harry screamed viciously and tackled the possessed Professor to the ground.

Ron watched helplessly as his best mate was starting to be swallowed by his hate and need for revenge. If only he could get the stone, and keep Harry and Voldemort both from getting it, things might be okay. Then he glanced at his reflection and saw it pull a small rock from its pocket, and then wink at him. The moment it put it back into the pocket, Ron felt it in his own. Somehow, he had gotten the stone.

Harry cried out again, as the pain in his scar spiked when Quirrell wrapped his fingers around his neck to choke him. Harry was surprised when Quirrell pulled quickly away, and saw the man's hand blister and bubble. He realised that Quirrell could not touch him and placed his hands on the Professor's face. They both cried out in pain, as Harry's scar burned and Quirrell's face became blackened and charred. He let go, the pain in his forehead becoming too much for him.

"The other boy has the stone!" Voldemort cried out suddenly, his voice pained and forced. "Get him!"

"Yes, master," Quirrell choked out as he managed to get to his feet quickly, and go after the redhead.

"No!" Harry screamed as he recovered some from his overbearing pain.

His magic uncoiled as the Professor tackled Ron. It screamed toward them in a blaze of green mist, wrapping around Quirrell's feet and hoisting him into the air roughly. A few sharp cracks echoed off the walls as it broke the Professor's legs.

Harry sent his feeling through his magic, and saw the visible flesh on Quirrell begin to redden and blister.

"Harry, stop!" came a voice that Harry recognized as that of Dumbledore.

He dropped Quirrel immediately, and he regained control of himself, although he really didn't know how. As the green mist was quickly absorbed back into his body, he found Dumbledore staring directly into his eyes.

Harry collapsed then, and was caught by McGonagall. "Is Ron okay?" he whispered as the magical exhaustion began to push him towards sleep.

"He should be fine," she said when she got a nod from Pomfrey, who was kneeling over the redhead. "You need to rest now, Harry."

"Thank you, Aunt Minerva," Harry smiled and let the sleep come.

Harry woke with a start. He quickly found his glasses on the night stand and put them on. He looked around quickly and found Ron in the bed next to him. He realised they were in the hospital wing.

"Ron?" he said.

"Hmmm?" Ron answered as he slowly attempted to wake up.

"You okay?" Harry asked once Ron was able to sit up, awake fully now.

"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey made me take a sleeping potion. Quirrell broke my leg when he tackled me, but she fixed that right quick. How are you feeling mate?"

Harry felt around with his senses and realised nothing was broken and he felt recharged. "I feel great, Ron. Really great. Not just rested, but more like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders," he said as they both tucked in to the breakfast left for them.

"I guess that means you both are up to a game of Quidditch in a few hours?" Dumbledore said from the door.

Harry and Ron grinned insanely at each other and yelled, "Yeah."

"Good," Dumbledore said as he conjured a chair and sat between the two boys.

"Is Professor Quirrell..." Harry started to ask.

"I'm afraid so," Dumbledore said sadly, "but it's nothing you did. Being possessed by Voldemort doomed him the moment Voldemort vacated. Which he did a few moments before I got there."

"Oh," Harry replied, not really knowing how to feel.

"Before he died, he did manage to tell me everything that happened," Dumbledore said. "As with many of Voldemort's followers, he was very repentant in his last minutes."

"Harry was just mad, he wouldn't really use the stone badly," Ron said quickly in Harry's defense.

"Yes I would, Ron," Harry frowned. "I thought it was Voldemort's anger, but all he did was show me myself. I would have hurt the Dursley's."

"I thought you had come to an agreement, made up with them," Dumbledore postured.

"I did, but I realise now they've never been punished for what they did to me. We get punished for things, points taken away, detention," Harry said solemnly. "It's not just that they might try something again, it's that they haven't been punished," Harry screamed out. "You know what they did."

"But Harry," Ron said.

"No!" Harry stated flatly. "I'll admit that there's revenge there, and that scares me, but they need to be punished in some way."

"We will see, Harry," Dumbledore said finally. "But I want you safe, and with blood is the safest place I know."

Harry just frowned and thought about what Dumbledore said, then had a realisation. "You wanted me to go after Voldemort, didn't you? Giving me my dad's cloak, you hoped I would use it to find Quirrell and stop him."

Dumbledore sighed and looked down. "I'm losing touch, Harry. There was a time when I would have known who it was. I'm sorry, but I have to try and guide you, because you are the only one that will be able to beat him, that should be clear after last night."

"But I want to make my own destiny, not one cause of some stupid prophecy."

"Yeah, Harry almost lost himself last night," Ron added.

"I'm sorry, but you may not have a choice. I won't be around forever, so you'll just have to do the best you can," Dumbledore responded.

"And if I said I would use what I can to hurt people?" Harry said defiantly.

"I would hope you wouldn't do that, and end up like Voldemort," Dumbledore sighed.

"Well, I will, but only people who hurt other people, and then we'll see. Maybe even a little pranking like my dad," Harry smiled shyly and Ron let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

"I think we will all be able to handle the first part, but I don't know about that second part," Dumbledore offered his own smile.

"Professor Dumbledore? Why did it burn Quirrell to touch me?" Harry asked after a short pause.

"Because your mother died to save you. A love that strong lives in your very skin, your blood. Quirrell, full of greed, hatred, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, who couldn't understand a love so deep, couldn't touch something so good."

They sat in silence for a few moments. "Professor?" Ron spoke up. "How did I get the stone?"

"Ah, now that's something I'm glad you asked. Probably one of my last, truly brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only someone who wanted to find the stone, find it, but not use it, would be able to get it."

"That was what you were working on when we were in detention, wasn't it?" Ron asked.

"Yes indeed, Mr. Weasley."

"And I bet the potion we used got it ready for that, too." Harry stated and Dumbledore grinned happily at them.

"So what happened to the stone?" Harry asked shortly.

"It has been destroyed, for the safety of all," Dumbledore sighed out, and that was all that was said about it.

Suddenly Harry started smiling, causing Dumbledore and Ron to question him.

"Well, I really feel free, now. There is a connection to Voldemort through my scar, but I can't really feel it now, not like before. And now, I think I can have fun, not worrying about what destiny might try and make me do. I've got the whole year to just be me, just Harry," Harry said and his smile didn't waver a bit.

"Well, Just Harry," Ron said with a smile, "care to get beat at Quidditch?"

"Oh, you wish," Harry said and jumped out of bed and tackled Ron on his.

"None of that in here, if you please," Madam Pomfrey said sternly. "You both seem to be recovered. I would appreciate it if you would stay that way during the game."

Harry and Ron smiled sheepishly at her and followed Dumbledore out, taunting each other all the way down to the locker rooms.

"Nervous Harry?" Paulo asked as they neared the entrance to the pitch.

"A little," Harry admitted.

"You'll be okay once we get in the air," Paulo added with a smile. "Remember though, their keeper, Wood, is really tough to beat, so keep your eyes peeled for the snitch, catch it as quickly as you can."

"Gotcha," Harry quipped. "I think my best bet is to mark Ron, though. I'm the better flier, so once he sees it, I should be able to catch it."

"Good idea, but watch out for a feint, okay?" Paulo said and Harry nodded.

They walked out onto the pitch as the Gryffindor team did from their changing rooms. Harry was awed at the cheers coming from all of the stands. The Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs had an equal mixture of Slytherin and Gryffindor banners scattered about. This fact didn't seem to escape the attention of Dumbledore, McGonagall, or even Snape, Harry noticed as they approached Madam Hooch, who would be refereeing.

"I expect a clean game," she said, "especially with the changes of late. Mount your brooms."

With a blow of her silver whistle, fifteen brooms rose into the air, and the game was on.

Harry felt the wind through his hair and the nervousness just vanished. Up here, he was even more at home. He scanned around for the snitch as Ron came up beside him.

"Bloody brilliant, eh?" he said.

"Oh yeah, Ron. This is great," Harry remarked with a gloating smirk as Slytherin scored first.

"Don't worry about that," Ron replied and then Gryffindor scored. "See? Our chasers are tops, mate."

Gryffindor scored again and Harry almost frowned, but held it in. Ron's team was really in tune with each other. He kept his eyes on Ron as the Gryffindor keeper made a spectacular save against Paulo.

"It's okay Ron. I'm the boy who lived, so you guys can have this one," Harry said seriously.

"Really?" Ron said unbelievingly.

Harry chuckled sarcastically. "No," he said and took off quickly in the direction behind Ron.

"It looks like the Slytherin seeker Harry Potter has seen the snitch," said Lee Jordan, the Gryffindor who was commentating. "Gryffindor seeker Ron Weasley, who had been looking at Mr. Potter, distracted, has taken off after him."

Harry dove at an angle toward the ground, and Ron was quickly gaining on him. Of course, this was what Harry wanted, which was why he wasn't going at top speed. He put his hand out as if to catch the snitch as the ground got closer. He pulled up at the last second, shooting off back toward the sky.

Ron realised at the last second what Harry was doing, and managed to pull up before he lost control. The tail of his broom did scrape harshly on the ground, though. The close call left him breathing hard as he slowly flew up to where Harry was hovering.

"Harry Potter performs a nearly flawless feint, leaving a shaken Ron Weasley in his wake," Lee called out.

"Sorry, mate," Harry said sheepishly. "But I figured you were about to do that, so I saw an opportunity and took it."

"I'm gonna kick your arse when the games over," Ron frowned, for a few seconds before breaking into a grin. "Gotcha," he said at the worried look on Harry's face.

Harry swore as Gryffindor scored again. The Slytherin chasers were having a hard time against Oliver Wood. Their keeper wasn't nearly as good as Wood, and the Slytherins were slowly falling behind. With a score of 110 to 60, Harry remembered he better catch the snitch in a hurry.

Ron and Harry saw the flicker of gold at the same time at the opposite end of the pitch. Ron was about a yard and a half closer as they took off. Ron saw Harry out of the corner of his eye, and he was slowly closing the distance between them. Ron put as much will as he could in getting the snitch first, and felt the distance increasing. He looked over his shoulder to taunt Harry, but Harry wasn't there. Ron pulled up and stopped in fright at what he saw.

Harry was about twenty feet higher, his broom shaking like a hippogriff, trying to throw him off. Harry was hanging on as best as he could, but couldn't get the broom under control. Suddenly the broom lurched forward, and Harry slid off, hanging by one hand. Harry swung to and fro, and tried to get his other hand up, but the broom dipped and slid backwards, away from him and right out of his hand. He started to fall and felt a hand grasp his wrist.

"Gotcha, mate," Ron said as he grabbed his best friends wrist, the force nearly dislocating both of their shoulders.

"Timeout," Paulo and Wood called at the same time.

Ron helped Harry back onto his broom, which had stopped bucking now, and was just hovering. He slowly guided a shaking Harry to the ground, as both teams landed.

"What's going on?" Madam Hooch demanded.

"It's these two," came Hermione's voice from the edge of the stands. "I caught them jinxing Harry's broom."

"Hmmm," Dumbledore said. "What spell did you use to stop them?"

Hermione blushed and mumbled, "Petrificus Totalus."

Snape looked down at the two in disgust, and performed the counter curse. "Flint, Higgs, what have you got to say for yourselves?"

"Nothin," Flint said and Higgs just frowned and remained silent.

"Pack your bags," Snape snarled. "As your head of house, I'm expelling you. One of the houseelves will make sure you cause no trouble."

"Severus, really," Dumbledore said.

"Disrupting the game, endangering the life of a student, and dishonoring the Noble House of Slytherin. This is not their first offense. If they stay, I'm certain it won't be the last. The choice is mine to make, headmaster, and I have made it."

"Very well, Severus," the headmaster agreed.

The two ex-students headed to the school to get their trunks in a huff, closely followed by one of the houseelves.

Snape then turned to Hermione. "Granger, fifty points from Gryffindor for attacking a student."

"Yes indeed, Severus," Dumbledore said. "Punishments must be made. However, I believe that twenty points shall be awarded to Gryffindor for an advanced spell well done by a first year.

Snape glared at the headmaster.

"Oh, and forty points for defending and protecting another student who was in danger," Dumbledore added with a tone of voice that challenged Snape to so much as sneeze. "Good, now Harry, are you up to continuing the game?"

"Yeah," Harry said and took a deep breath. "Okay, lets go."

Snape and Dumbledore left to take care of the expulsion, contacting parents and so forth, as the game continued.

Back in the air, Harry was more determined to win. He flew in wide circles, scanning for the snitch as Slytherin actually started closing the gap in points. They were closing rather quickly too, and Ron was marking him. Something was wrong, and Harry knew what it was.

"Time," Harry called out. "If you guys keep going easy because of what happened, I'll hex all of you myself," he said to the Gryffindors, and his eyes flared an intense emerald green for a moment.

"Sorry Harry,...just trying to be nice," said the twin Weasley's in their annoying way.

Harry flashed his magic at them, and suddenly their faces were painted in Slytherin colours. "It won't come off unless the game ends fairly," Harry said as the two pranksters stared at each other.

The crowd cheered at what happened to the twins making Harry blush a bit. He decided to go with it though, and made a bowing movement from his broom, making the cheers louder.

"Can we just play already?" Ron complained as Madam Hooch glared at Harry and the twins.

"If you would, Madam Hooch," Harry said charmingly and she blew her whistle, resuming the game.

The Gryffindors started pulling ahead again as Harry kept his eyes open for the snitch. He also kept an eye on Ron, who was slowly flying toward the other end. He heard the score, 220 to 100. A few more goals and Slytherin would still lose. Then he saw it, about halfway between him and Ron.

He took off after it, and noticed that Ron had saw it to. As he approached, it cut to his left and down. He and Ron turned at the same time, chasing the little gold ball. Harry and Ron glanced at each other, knowing what could happen. If the snitch darted left, Harry would have it, to the right, and it would be Ron's.

Ron tried to coax a little more speed out of his broom in case the snitch went left. It was no use, though, Harry stayed right with him. The little ball stayed out front and started to arch upwards, over the stands. They pulled up, each trying to gain on the little ball. It kept curving up and around, staying out front, going neither left nor right. Ron lost some distance as he twisted to get right side up, but Harry kept going in the arch, flying upside down. Ron tried to regain the lost distance, but it was too late. The snitch made a zig zag, and Harry's right hand closed around it.

"Slytherin wins, 250 to 240," Jordan called out with a slight pout in his voice.

Harry didn't realise the loop had taken him all the way around and back near the ground. He didn't have enough time to pull completely up after grabbing the snitch, so he flipped over and skidded to a halt on his back.

"You alright, mate?" Ron called out as he landed near him.

"Yeh," Harry said as breathed hard, exhaustion catching up to him.

"Man that was some crazy flyin' you did," he said and helped Harry to his feet as the rest of both teams landed.

"Gotta take the risks to win," Harry smiled as everyone congratulated him on a game well played.

"How long have we been playing?" Harry asked, "I'm starved."

"We've been at it for three hours," Wood said with a slight scowl.

"Don't mind him...he wants the cup." Fred and George said, their faces now clear of the green and silver. "Good prank by the way...we will...get you back...you know."

"Are you two really up for a prank war with me? Remember what I did last night?" Harry said.

"Maybe...we should...work together," they said.

"We'll see. Right now, I gotta get somethin to eat," Harry smiled and both teams headed for the locker rooms to change and then to the Great Hall for lunch and celebration.

Draco Malfoy watched the celebration and was confused at what he saw. The Gryffindors were upset at the loss, but not overly so. They were celebrating the fun that they had playing, aside from the disgrace the two former Slytherins had brought. The puzzle known as Harry Potter did this. Potter was definitely a danger to the remaining deatheaters. And the Dark Lord if he were to ever return. Did that matter though? He wasn't sure. It did matter to his mother and father though. He should owl his parents with this news quickly he thought, and slipped out of the hall to do just that.

Remus Lupin took up the post of DADA instructor and was an instant hit with the students. He taught, he made the class fun, and he got along well with the staff, even Snape.

Harry was especially happy, chatting with him about his parents. He showed him his trunk, and his workout equipment. Remus was sad about how Harry had to grow up, especially when he found out that Harry would have nightmares if it weren't for Norbert.

"It's alright," Harry said stroking the furry purple dragon. "I mean, I took out Voldemort again, so I should be able to handle anything."

"It's not weakness Harry, to admit that you need somebody every now and again," Remus said.

"I...sometimes I wouldn't mind maybe having a real parent," Harry admitted. "You know, when I was little, I would dream that some relative would come and rescue me from the Dursleys."

"I would have, Harry. I should have."

"You're here now, Uncle Remus," Harry said with a smile. "Everyone has problems you know."

"How did you get so smart?" Remus said.

"Good genetics I guess."

Classes went well as the year went on. Everything was good, with no problems. By the time Christmas approached, Harry had grown a couple of inches thanks to good food and exercise. He almost looked his age now. Almost.

His Aunt and Uncle, although not as bad as they were, seemed to become bad in a different way, indifferent. They suggested that he stay at school over the holiday. Harry was happy to, though, because Ron was staying.

"Hermione, you should stay too," Harry said a few days before the term ended.

"I've never spent the Holiday away from my parents, so I'm going home," she said firmly.

"Oh well," Harry thought quickly. "I can get Ron and Nev up to your level with some study, and I can zip past you during the break."

"I'm staying," she said and walked out of the library in a huff.

"Good one, mate," Ron smiled. "Were not really studying though, are we?"

"A little would be a good idea Ron," Harry replied with a chuckle. "But it is late, I'm gonna hit the sack."

Harry woke up the day after the term ended and saw Draco. "I thought you were going home for the holiday."

"It was decided that I would stay here," Draco said calmly.

"Didn't want you, huh?" Harry said almost without thinking.

"Shut up, Potter," Malfoy said, dropping his cool demeanor.

"I'm sorry," Harry said quickly, "It's just that my family seems to have gone back to their old ways a little and suggested I stayed as well. You said once that your father did things to you. I didn't mean anything by it, it just slipped out."

Draco eyed Harry suspiciously, but didn't see deception in the green eyes. He couldn't tell him that he wanted to stay and that his father had originally wanted him to come home. He used the ploy of keeping an eye on Potter as an excuse not to go. He was curious about Harry anyway. Plus he hated the formal gatherings every year. Time to be a little friendly, he thought.

"I'm sick of the formal gatherings my parents give, so I talked them into letting me stay," Draco said as he got dressed for breakfast.

Harry opened his trunk and pulled out a pair of jeans and a tee shirt to wear instead of robes. The term was over and school robes were optional.

"Why didn't you just say that?" Harry said and started to get dressed.

Draco stared at the scars on Harry's back. After several months, he still wasn't use to seeing that sort of thing. "I don't know," he finally said. "Pureblood training, I suppose. You have to maintain your superiority, my father's always saying."

"Yeah, but this isn't public, and we're dormmates," Harry said and turned to look at Draco. "And you haven't been the arse you started out to be, so I thought we could be a little friendlier," he added playfully, and Draco actually smiled before he caught himself.

"I'm hoping father will finally send me a broom for Christmas since the no broom rule has all but been abolished for you and Weasley. What are you hoping to get?" Draco asked as they headed for the Great Hall.

"I've never got any presents," Harry said casually and Draco added that shamefulness to his Harry puzzle list.

There weren't many people staying so only one table was used for teachers and students. The food was as excellent as usual though, the houseelves happily serving no matter how many there were to serve.

Hermione helped Neville study because he was still a little behind while Harry, Ron, and the twins had a snowball fight, or battle, with the fresh snow from the night before. Even Draco joined in and was having fun, even though he was a frequent target of the three redheads.

After a particularly large snowball to the head, Harry got up to see Draco, the twins, and Ron talking quietly. "Er, what's up, guys?" Harry asked nervously. "Oh shite," Harry muttered as they slowly spread out and surrounded him.

"Nothin mate," Ron said and lobbed the first of many snowballs.

"Hey, no fair," Harry cried as he was pelted with snowballs from four directions.

Harry started laughing madly as he ducked and dodged about a third of them. He focused his magic and using the levitation charm they had learned, scooped up large blobs of snow behind each opponent. They stopped hitting Harry when they saw the snow hovering above the others, and as they looked up at the snow above themselves, Harry dropped it.

"Now that's no fair," Ron sputtered out as Harry rolled around laughing.

"I told ya not to mess with me," Harry said and the twins conceded.

"It was...his idea," they said and pointed at Malfoy, who attempted to take off, but tripped in the surrounding snow before he could take two steps.

The laughter and good times continued well into the afternoon, Neville and Hermione joining in eventually. Harry didn't catch the subtle actions of the twins, and paid the price as they surrounded him again, with two extra people to keep him distracted enough not to be able to do his levitating trick again.

It worked. Harry was laughing as everyone pummeled him with the soft snow. He couldn't get his concentration up enough to do the same trick.

"Enough!" yelled Ron's prefect brother, Percy. "Picking on one student like that, especially a smaller one, I should give you all detention."

"Oh buzz off, Percy," Harry said and blew him a raspberry.

Then he made a large blob of snow fall off Hogwart's roof, right on top of Percy. Everyone started laughing as Harry pulled out his wand and made a few quick movements and mutterings.

"What did you do?" Ron asked as Percy sputtered and started to climb out of the mound of snow.

"That," Harry said and everyone turned to look.

Percy had a long beard made of snow stuck to his chin. Actually, it was ice and wouldn't come off no matter how hard Percy tried, though his main problem was that it slipped through his fingers when he pulled.

People were holding their sides they were laughing so hard. The more Percy demanded for Harry to undo it, the harder they laughed.

"It's just regular ice and snow," Harry finally said. "Can't you do a simple heating charm?" Harry asked and Percy blushed and shook his head no, which of course, made everyone start laughing again.

It was getting dark and people started heading in, chuckling the whole time as Percy kept yelling at someone to help him. Inside they met Dumbledore heading to the Great Hall.

"Nice beard, Mr. Weasley," he said as the giggles started up again.

"I want them all in detention," Percy screamed.

"Quiet, please, Percy," Dumbledore frowned. He looked around and said, "Miss Granger, what happened?"

Hermione explained the fun they were having and then what Percy said and what Harry did. She quickly cast a heating charm and the beard melted.

"Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore sighed, "you need to learn to lighten up a bit. Also realise when someone is generally in trouble. Life is too short to be so rigid."

Harry tried having a lie in Christmas morning, because even though he was used to not getting presents, this new home he had been placed in made it hurt not to have them. It reminded him that he didn't really have anyone even in the wizarding world. He couldn't sleep though, so he just laid there brooding about it.

"Hey Potter, wake up, it's Christmas," Draco shouted and threw a pillow at Harry.

"Piss off," Harry responded in a choked voice before he could stop himself.

"Don't pity yourself, Potter. It looks like you got some presents."

"What?" Harry clamored and threw back the blanket.

At the foot of his bed was a pile of presents. He wiped his eyes from the tears he didn't know were there and put on his glasses. A small pile of presents wrapped in various festive colours and designs looked back at him. He let out a sad, choked up laugh of disbelief. He had presents. For the first time in his life he had presents.

Draco Malfoy watched the small dark haired boy's simple happiness at getting Christmas presents for the first time in his life. The-boy-who-lived. The supposed saviour of the wizarding world had been treated so badly. Treated poorly because the muggles he lived with thought lowly of wizards. The same way his parents and the Dark Lord thought of muggles. He had to think about this more. Was it Dumbledore's fault? Was it the Dark Lord's fault? Was it people like his own parents fault? Would he end up like that? The answer to the last seemed to be yes. His father had been grooming him like that. But they were better than muggles and mudbloods, weren't they? They had magic and muggles did not. He had a lot to think about as he watched Harry open his presents.

Harry picked up his first present. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Harry, From Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Harry ran his fingers over it slowly, taking in it's simple beauty and the love in which it was made. He put it to his lips and played a few notes. It sounded beautiful, and he loved it. He set it down and wiped his eyes again before reaching for his next present.

He tore open the lumpy parcel and found a hand knitted jumper, a box of homemade fudge, and a slip of parchment.

_Dear Harry,_

_Ron and the twins speak often about you. Ron, especially,  
speaks very highly of you. When they said you weren't  
expecting any presents on Christmas morning I could  
scarcely believe it. Such a dear friend of Ron's, I won't  
stand for it. I only hope the size is right._

_You are more than welcome to stay with us at the Burrow  
over the summer holidays if you wish to. We'll squeeze you  
in somewhere._

_Have a happy Christmas dear,  
Mrs. Weasley_

Harry,

_Ron says great things about you. I'm impressed at how you  
are managing to pull so many students together from different  
houses, especially in your first year. Real cooperation at last.  
Good show, Harry! Dumbledore has been trying to encourage  
that for years._

_Oh, he also mentioned you lived with muggles. Could you  
explain to me how a fuse works._

_Best wishes,  
Mr. Arthur Weasley_

'Cool,' Harry thought and then held up the jumper. It was emerald green with a silver serpent on the front underneath a large H.

"Who's that from?" Draco asked.

"It's from Ron's parents. I think his mum made it," Harry replied happily.

"It's clever, but not the best clothing in the world," Draco said and for some reason, wished he hadn't.

"I think it's brilliant. She made it for me, just for me, and it's in Slytherin colours. Life doesn't get better than that," Harry beamed and pulled it on.

His last present was from Remus. It was neatly wrapped with a design of father Christmas all over it. Harry ripped off the paper and found a book titled: _H__e Flew Like a Madman, __A biography of "Dangerous" Dai Llewellyn by Kennilworthy Whisp_. Harry wondered if it was a joke after the way he caught the snitch in his first quidditch game, but after quickly scanning the forward, decided it was probably half joke, half not.

Just then Kleo flew in with a parcel and Harry smiled. "Good timing, girl," he said and removed the package and opened it. "Happy Christmas, Kleo," he said as he placed the open box in front of her. "These are suppose to be the best owl treats on the market."

She nipped his hand affectionately and nibbled on the treats.

Harry and Draco joined the others a few at a time as they headed toward the Great Hall for Christmas brunch. They chatted about the presents they received and had a pleasant time. Ron and his brothers were wearing a jumper similar to Harry's, and they admired his as they walked. Ron pulled Scabbers out of his pocket to share Christmas with them as they approached the single table loaded with a beautiful meal.

"Hey, that reminds me," Harry said to Ron and Hermione. "Remember that cheesy spell that Fred and George made up?"

"Oh yeah," Ron said.

"I completely forgot about that," Hermione added, "We should ask Professor McGonagall about it now."

"Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked as they approached and she looked up at them, eyeing the rodent Ron was holding.

"My brothers gave me a spell back on the train," Ron started and glanced at the blushing twins.

"It's kind of silly, but Hermione and I both agree the theory is sound with proper focus," Harry continued and Hermione nodded. "But it wouldn't work on Scabbers, we tried in on a piece of parchment, and it worked. We've been meaning to ask you about it, maybe the fact that the object is alive or something else we missed."

McGonagall gave Fred and George a condescending look before saying, "Alright, lets hear it."

Harry raised his wand and clear his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

The spell rushed out of Harry's wand and hit Scabbers, who turned yellow for about a second before resuming his normal grey colour.

"It is a bit silly, I agree," McGonagall said, "But you're right, the theory is sound. Must be your focus isn't completely on the rat."

She glared at everyone watching then raised her own wand. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

Scabbers was trembling a bit as the spell hit him. He turned yellow for a good two seconds before resuming his tattered grey colour again.

McGonagall scowled and peered closely at the rat in Ron's hands.

"Sorry I'm late, what's going on?" Remus asked as he walked up and looked over Ron's shoulder. "Wormtail!" he screamed causing Ron to drop the rat which immediately took off.

Harry stunned the rat with a scowl on his face. "Who or what is Wormtail?" Harry asked Remus.

Remus looked at him with fear in his eyes. "Peter Pettigrew," he whispered, but everyone clearly heard what he said. With a nod to McGonagall, they pointed their wands at the stunned rat and it slowly transformed into a short, balding man.

Ron was stunned and afraid at what had once been his pet, sleeping with him even. Harry was seething with anger, his eyes glowing brightly as his magic and anger rose up.

Harry's wand flew gently out of his hand into Dumbledore's. "We will sort this out," he told Harry, but Harry ignored him.

Harry's magic ennervated the man he recognised from his picture of the Marauders. With a wave of his hand, he slammed the man with a thud against the wall and held him there, about a meter off the floor.

"You betrayed my parents to Voldemort, how could you?" Harry cried, his voice unnaturally altered by his anger and magic.

The man whimpered and cried. "The Dark Lord had power, Harry. He would have killed me."

"Then you should have died," Harry barked out, his eyes burning and his skin tingling with magic.


	19. Black Sheep

_Thanks for the reviews last chapter. Slight gore warning this chapter. I hope you like it._

"**Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 19, "Black Sheep"**

"Harry, no," Dumbledore said firmly as everyone backed away from Harry, who was glowing with magic.

"Harry, please, don't do it." Ron pleaded with his best friend. "Don't go down this road."

Forcing a short glance at him, "I'm sorry Ron, I have to," Harry said, a sob sneaking into his voice.

Harry's eyes felt like they were on fire as he glared at the former rat. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness, was his parent's betrayer being torn in half by his magic.

"Happy Bloody Christmas," Harry mumbled with a smirk as he passed out.

Harry felt pain all over as he slowly woke up. His body ached, his head throbbed, and his eyes burned. He could feel a cold, wet bandage with a faint smell of some potion covering his eyes. It felt really good against the lingering burning sensation. He breathed in slowly and felt that he was not alone in the room that he instinctively knew was the hospital wing. He slowly moved his left hand over and grabbed the wrist of the person there.

"Ron?" he whispered.

"Harry," Ron whispered back, "I...are you okay?"

"I don't know," Harry replied as panic began to set in.

"Your eyes will heal," Madam Pomfrey said, changing the bandage and startling Harry.

"I can't see," he said.

"Your eyesight will return," she added. "Channeling so much magic through them was dangerous though. Consider yourself lucky."

Harry breathed deeply and could feel the different magic throughout the room. He turned his head toward the strongest and spoke. "I'm sorry Professor Dumbledore."

"I don't blame you, Harry. I blame myself for not seeing clearly enough. Not taking care of you while you were at the Dursley's. Not realising that your godfather would never have betrayed your parents. Not even realising your father and his friends became animagi to have fun with a young Mr. Lupin during his special times."

"What's gonna happen to me? I mean, I don't regret what I did to that rat, after what he did, though," Harry said finally.

"He's still alive, Harry," Remus said. "You didn't kill him, though he's half the man he was," Remus added with a sadistic chuckle.

"What?" Harry said in disbelief.

"It seems your magic kept him alive until his wound could be healed. It seems you wanted him to suffer rather than die," Dumbledore replied. "There were extreme extenuating circumstances, so nothing is going to happen to you regarding your actions, in fact, there are some old laws that say Pettigrew's life belonged to you for familial retribution."

Harry swallowed nervously and pondered what they said. He sensed around and found he could tell which entity was the werewolf. He felt some hope wash over him as he remembered his talks with Remus. He pointed his head toward the werewolf with hope.

"Yes, Harry. Pettigrew is in Askaban and there is someone else here to see you," Remus said.

Harry sensed someone move toward him on the right and he looked over, or moved his head in that direction.

"Hello, Harry," came a man's voice.

"Sirius." Harry said. It wasn't a question. He sat up quickly and hugged the man.

"Oh Harry," Sirius said and hugged the small eleven year old. "I wish I had went to Dumbledore after what happened instead of going after Wormtail."

"Like I told Remus, we all make mistakes," Harry said and hugged a little tighter. "You're staying aren't you?" Harry almost pleaded.

"Absolutely," Sirius returned firmly. "James and Lily wanted me to look after you if anything happened, and I failed miserably so far. Not again."

Harry settled back into the bed and tried to relax. "I wish I could see you," Harry said and the bandages suddenly felt like they were constricting him, the darkness closing in.

"What's the matter?" Sirius asked, immediately sensing something.

"I...can't see. I don't like it. It's too dark." Harry said and started trembling.

"A panic attack," Sirius said and hugged Harry again. "I'm here, and I'm not leaving, Harry."

Harry calmed some and Sirius helped him drink a calming draught, which calmed him some more, but not completely.

"Give me a sleeping draught," Sirius said.

"I don't want to sleep," Harry complained.

"Do you want to keep panicking?" Sirius said. "I'll still be here when you wake up, I promise."

Harry nodded and drank the sleeping potion and settled down quickly, falling asleep.

"I need a couple of those potions now," Sirius said. "Ten years in Askaban and now learning about this. Make it a double, just make sure I'm awake before Harry."

Sirius downed the potions quickly and settled into the bed next to Harry. He looked over at his Godson and smiled a little as he drifted off to sleep.

"Are you sure about this?" Minister Fudge asked Dumbledore from the doorway.

Dumbledore glared back at him. "The wizarding world owes that boy a lot, Minister," he said sternly. "It owes a lot to Sirius as well. You will make the full pardon official, restore the Black properties and monies to Sirius, and you will give full custody of Harry to him. It was James and Lily's wishes."

There was no debate on the matter, the Minister was sure of that. He looked at the two dark haired wizards asleep in the hospital wing for a moment and then left to do as Dumbledore said.

Harry woke to an argument the next day.

"Black tried to kill me, and you know how Potter and Black treated me before and after that. I want him out of here!" Snape said harshly to Dumbledore.

"I said I'm sorry," Sirius said. "But you were snooping about, trying to figure out that Remus was a werewolf. I admit that leading you there after his transformation was stupid, and dangerous, but you're still going to hold a grudge?"

"Yes," Snape said.

"Now you're the one being childish," Sirius replied. "The only concern in my life now is Harry, and I'm not going anywhere."

"Enough, the both of you," Dumbledore said. "Askaban and Harry have matured Sirius, Severus. I suggest you mature as well. In fact I insist that you do. You don't have to like each other, but you will leave the past in the past, just as you seem to have done with Harry."

Snape scowled, nodded, and stormed out as Sirius sighed.

"Sirius," Dumbledore said and the man looked up at him. "You will not do anything to Severus, but his shouting has wakened your Godson."

Sirius quickly ran over to Harry. "Sorry about waking you. How are you feeling today?"

"Better," Harry said. "I can even see light through the bandages now."

"Really?" Madam Pomfrey said as she went over to Harry's bed.

"Yeah, why? Is something wrong?" Harry said and started to panic again.

"No, not at all, Mr. Potter. You seemed to have healed faster than I expected," she said and had him sit up so she could remove the bandage. "Keep your eyes closed at first and then open them slowly."

Harry did as she said as the bright light hurt. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he opened them and looked around with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Dumbledore said your glasses were disintegrated during the blast of magic," Sirius said and Harry looked at him. "We'll get you some more."

"No, it's just that...I don't need them. I can see fine," Harry said and grinned as he looked at Sirius.

Sirius was tall, with long black hair, much like his own, only longer, almost as long as Dumbledore's, and tied in a ponytail. He had a short trimmed goatee and mustache, and looked rather pale and thin, because of the years in Askaban, Harry guessed. But his smile was a lot like the one in the photo. Full and deep, reaching his eyes.

"That's unbelievable," Pomfrey exclaimed and examined his bright green eyes closely. "It seems your magic helped to repair them better than the way they were. Do they still burn at all?"

"No, not at all," Harry said, still smiling. "Can I get up now? I feel fine, great even, and I want to talk to my new father."

Sirius beamed at that, and Pomfrey examined Harry and pronounced him fit to leave. They stepped outside the curtain so Harry could get dressed, and shortly, after a run to get a warm cloak, Harry and his Godfather were strolling the grounds, talking. Harry was overwhelmed at having a real parental figure, a godfather, father even, and told Sirius everything. Sirius stayed quiet while Harry went on and on, taking in everything his Godson said, and vowed to give the Dursleys an earful when he met them.

Eventually Harry talked himself out, and they made their way to Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was glad to see them, and invited them in for tea.

"Hagrid, I wanted to thank you myself for getting Harry away from the Dursleys," Sirius said as he sat down in one of the big chairs, roomy enough for Harry to climb in next to him, which he did.

"On'y doin' me job, Sirius. Glad to help," he said with a smile. "He's a good boy, and a great wizard, just like James and Lily."

"I miss them," Sirius said sadly. "I wish I had come with you back then, instead of going after Pettigrew like an idiot, or better still, not suggesting him as secret keeper to begin with."

"It's in the past, me daddy use to say. We gotta look to the future," Hagrid said and handed them their tea.

"That's what I say," Harry smiled and Sirius gave him a hug.

"Hey, what happened to my bike?" Sirius interjected.

"Your bike?" Harry questioned.

"I got it hidden out back. After they took you away, I did some thinkin', and I figured there was no way in hell you'd do that to James, you was like brothers, I figured you was innocent, just like I was back in me third year. I knew the truth would come out eventually, had to believe it would. Can't stand a world where bad people win and good people suffer. So anyways, I wrapped it up real good, and buried it out behind my house here," Hagrid said proudly.

"Wait, what bike?" Harry asked again and then a dream he had popped into his head. "Wait, I dreamed once about flying on a great motorbike when I was little, and someone giving me a very scratchy kiss goodbye. That was you, wasn't it Hagrid?"

"Yep, I can't believe you remember that, Harry," Hagrid said with a smile. "After I got you from your house, I met Sirius, and he lent me his bike. You fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."

"Wow! Sirius, dude, dad, let's go dig it up. It shouldn't take long with magic," Harry jumped out of his seat pulling Sirius with him.

"Son," Sirius said smiling and Harry stopped, "I don't have a new wand yet, and it's gonna need some work I imagine."

"Use my wand, c'mon, I wanna see it," Harry said and started pulling him along again.

Hagrid chuckled and led them out to where he had buried Sirius' adored bike. Sirius, to be honest, was anxious to see it as well, and both Hagrid and Harry saw the excitement in his eyes.

"Er, okay, stand back, I'm gonna try the quickest way I know," Sirius said after Harry handed him his wand. "Accio bike," he said with firm concentration.

The ground rumbled and trembled underneath them before exploding and showering them with snow, dirt, and mud as the bike rose into the air and headed toward Sirius.

"Oops," Sirius said and ended the spell before the bike rammed him.

A quick cleaning charm on the three of them, then Sirius removed the plastic Hagrid had wrapped the bike in. It was still in decent shape, but would need some work to get it running again.

"Thanks Hagrid," Sirius said and handed Harry his wand back. "And thank you Harry, my boy."

"No problem dad, er, Sirius," Harry blushed.

"It's okay, Harry. I'm sure your father wouldn't mind, and I know I don't, if you really want to call me that, sometimes, or all the time. Up to you." Sirius said as he knelt in front of Harry.

"Thanks," he said and ran his hand along the bike. "I can't wait until you get it running."

"Me too," Sirius said, not fully understanding the abrupt subject change. The wonders of parenthood.

Harry didn't know why he changed the subject or why he was a little embarrassed about calling Sirius, dad. He wanted to, really. He didn't know what to think as he looked up at Sirius and they smiled at each other. He could ask, but he didn't want to push Sirius away, or make him not like him. But that's what parents are for, he thought finally. To ask when you don't know about why you're feeling what you're feeling and stuff like that. He made up his mind about it, and went over to Sirius and stood next to him, staring at the bike.

"I think I want to call you that, but...I...I'm embarrassed. I don't know why." Harry said and looked up at his godfather.

Sirius looked down and smiled, giving Harry a little hug. "It's all new for you is my guess. It's new to me too. We just got to get a little use to each other and things will be okay."

They started heading to the castle and met Minister Fudge at the door.

"Ah, there you are Mr. Black, and Mr. Potter," Fudge said and pulled some papers from his pocket. "Here is your full pardon, completely expunging your record, as well as custody papers giving you complete guardianship of young Harry in accordance with the Potters' will. Good day," he said and left quickly.

They stared after the minister until he was gone, then Sirius grabbed Harry under the arms and swung him around in a circle, both of them laughing as Sirius yelled, "I'm really free!"

"So now what?" Harry said after they calmed down and headed inside for dinner.

"Well, tomorrow I'll go get a new wand, and maybe scope out a place to live. I'd like us to live in Hogsmeade, that way I'll be close when you're in school," Sirius said thoughtfully as they sat down in the Great Hall.

"What about the Dursleys and the blood protection?" Harry asked.

"A few weeks will be sufficient to maintain that," Dumbledore said as he joined them.

Harry frowned a bit. "What about punishing them for what they did to me?"

"I'm interested in that myself," Sirius said sternly.

No one else had joined them yet, so Dumbledore spoke freely. "A Ministry committee has been formed to deal with it."

"Committee?" Sirius repeated.

"Yes, it was done without my knowledge, and formed after what happened to Harry somehow became public knowledge. One main point is they feel it would be best to keep the muggle police out of the picture."

"That makes sense," Sirius said.

"Why, how?" Harry asked.

"In muggle prison, your cousin would end up in a home, and they would lose the house and worse. No blood protection if that happens."

"Oh. But if they're not going to prison, then what?" Harry asked smartly.

"It's hard to say, they're still discussing things, but they have performed one official act, though," Dumbledore said indifferently.

"And what was that?" Harry asked a little nervously.

"Well, they stripped me of my Order of Merlin, 1st class," Dumbledore replied with a sigh.

"Oh really?" Sirius said sharply.

"Yes, and I don't blame them. I was so caught up in keeping Harry safe from deatheaters, that I didn't think to check on his safety from the Dursleys. I couldn't risk doing it myself, but I should have sent someone else. I guess since I didn't hear from Mrs. Figg, I assumed things were alright. It's a mistake that I will regret until I die."

"Can we talk about something else?" Harry asked as a few other people showed up..

"Sure thing, Harry," Sirius said. "After I get my new wand tomorrow, want to help me work on the bike?"

"Yeah," Harry said and smiled.

After dinner Harry gave Sirius a tour of the Slytherin common room and his dorm.

"It's just so wild that you're in Slytherin," Sirius said, as he climbed out of Harry's trunk, impressed by it and everything it held.

"The hat said I would do my best here, and that not all Slytherins were bad," Harry responded.

"I know, it's just wild still."

"Check this out," Harry said and showed him the window over his bed.

"Wow, that's great, it seems a little stuffy down here," Sirius agreed.

"Yeah, it was a little too much like that damned cupboard I grew up in," Harry said and Sirius frowned. "Pip made it for me, and the best part, it's right next to Gryffindor tower, so I can talk to Ron."

"No way," Sirius exclaimed and stuck his head out. "Holy shite, that's the same window that used to be by my bed."

"Really?" Harry asked, astonished.

"Yeah. Hey, what's this?" Sirius asked and picked up a tin can with a string attached.

"A wizard enhanced muggle trick so I can talk to talk to Ron easier. I wonder if he's up there yet."

Harry tapped the can with his wand twice and said "Ron?" into it.

"Hey, Harry, what's going on?" Ron's voice came back.

"Just showing Sirius my dorm."

"Hey Ron," Sirius said. "This thing's pretty cool."

"Yeah, it was Harry's idea," Ron replied.

"I think you're in my old bed, Ron. Check near left post at the top, my initials should be carved there."

"Wow, yeah, they're there. Cool."

Sirius checked the time. "Now for me to try and be the responsible type, you guys should hit the sack."

After telling Ron they would see him in the morning, Harry asked, "Er, where are you gonna sleep?"

"Oh, I don't know. I was staying in the hospital wing, both for you and for calming potions to help deal with Askaban. I imagine there are some teachers quarters nearby that I could stay in," Sirius said and Harry looked a little crestfallen. "Or, I maybe could stay in here until the other student's get back, if you wanted me to that is."

Harry smiled and called for Pip to bring an extra bed as a reply.

"What was Askaban like?" Harry asked once they were settled for the night.

"Terrible," Sirius said and got a haunted look in his eyes. "The dementors suck out every happy thought leaving you miserable. I think the only thing that kept me sane was knowing I was innocent, really. That's not a happy thought, just a truthful one. That, and I would change into my animagus form, and that helped too."

"What can you change into?" Harry asked, suddenly wide awake.

Sirius got up and transformed into a large black dog. He trotted over to Harry and suddenly licked his face, eliciting a giggle from Harry, before changing back.

"That's so cool," Harry said wiping his face.

Just then Archimedes stuck his head out from under the covers and hissed.

"Ah, this is Archimedes," Harry said. "_Archimedes, this is my godfather, and new dad, Sirius Black_," Harry hissed out in parseltongue and Sirius did a double take.

"Woah," Sirius exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, I'm a parseltongue," Harry said sheepishly. "Pip said that a lot of people think it's dark, and that I should keep it a secret."

"Good idea. You're just full of surprises," Sirius commented and Harry looked a little abashed. "No, it's okay, Harry. I mean surprises in a good way, like your father," he added and Harry relaxed with a little smile.

Harry held Archimedes up and he flicked his tongue at Sirius, tasting him and the air.

"_He smells much like the rat of your red haired human_," the grass snake said.

"Weird, he said you smell a little like Pettigrew," Harry said and Sirius frowned.

"That's weird," Sirius said thoughtfully, "unless..."

"What?" Harry asked.

"We're both animagi, maybe that's it."

"Could be," he said as Archimedes slithered back under the covers for warmth.

"So that's the famous Norbert?" Sirius said, sitting down on Harry's bed and picking up the purple dragon as it blew smoke at him.

"Yep," Harry said and petted him.

"Keep him safe, Norbert," Sirius said as headed back to his own bed and downed the calming draught Pip had brought for him.

"You get bad dreams too?" Harry asked as he stared at the empty goblet.

"Yeah."

"Does that help?"

"Usually. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"What's he doing here?" Draco asked, suddenly making an appearance and heading for his bed.

"Looking after my Godson, cousin," Sirius answered snidely.

"You're related?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yeah, his mother is my first cousin, along with her sister Bella who is a major bitch of a death eater," Sirius said, disgust both in his voice and on his face. "She's in Askaban right now."

"Yeah, well you disgraced your family too. My mother told me all about you," Draco said defensively.

"Only in that I refused to become a deatheater and ran away to live with my best friend when I was sixteen," Sirius said angrily. "Don't automatically assume your parents are always right, young Malfoy. You gotta use your head and make your own way, then you'll be true to your heritage rather than the current political climate."

Draco actually understood what he meant as he pulled on his perfectly pressed pajamas. He didn't say anything, he just went to bed with a thoughtful scowl on his face.

Harry stripped to his underwear like he always did for bed and Sirius gasped when he saw the boy's back. Harry turned around quickly and then realised what was going on. He stared down at his feet sadly.

"It's okay, Harry. I was just startled is all," Sirius said, attempting to remove his foot from his mouth yet again.

"I...are you still gonna stay?" Harry asked timidly.

"Of course I'm gonna stay. Harry, look, I'm still new to this parenting stuff, but I'll never give up trying. I was just startled to actually see what they did even after you told me. It's gonna be okay, I promise," Sirius said with a firm certainty.

Sirius went over and gave Harry a hug and settled him into his bed, tucking him in. Harry seemed a little more relaxed then, even happy at such a gesture, as he rolled over to goto sleep.

Sirius gave Draco a stern look when he saw his head poking out of the curtains surrounding his four poster. Draco quickly ducked back in and Sirius went over to his own bed, stripped down to his own underwear and climbed in. He pulled the covers tightly around himself to fend off the chills from the dungeon.

Sirius choked in fear as the dementors closed in on him. He saw Voldemort directing them as the deatheaters laughed and laughed. His cousin Bella taunting him as she held a knife at Harry's throat. He found himself bound by ropes and couldn't move. He shouted for Bella to stop, but she just laughed at him, pulling the blade smoothly across the flesh of his godson's neck, drawing a torrent of blood.

Sirius sat up in bed, unable to catch his breath and drenched in sweat. He glanced over in the darkness and saw Harry sleeping peacefully, clutching Norbert, who was blowing gentle cinnamon scented smoke rings over him.

He laid back on his bed with a thud as his breathing started to return to normal. He rubbed his brow and his face with his hand, feeling the sweat covered stubble of a day's beard growth and tried to expel the nightmare from his mind.

Both dreams and emotions of dogs are less complex and intense, so Sirius transformed into his animagus shape and padded over to Harry's bed and hopped up onto it. He nuzzled his way under the covers and curled up at Harry's feet, feeling the connection to his godson. The smoke rings from the purple dragon started to settle on him as well as he started to drift off, finally, into a restful sleep.

When Harry woke the next morning he found his feet very, comfortably warm. Something heavy and furry was laying on them and he looked down to see a lump at the foot of his bed, and a dogs nose sticking out from under the covers. It was so comfortable that he didn't want to get up, but he had to pee, so he started wiggling his toes.

Sirius yelped and scrambled out from the covers, panting and staring at Harry, who giggled and stuck his tongue out at his dogfather before scrambling to the bathroom. After he changed back to human, Sirius followed him in to perform his own morning ablutions. Soon they both were dressed and heading down for breakfast.

"Can I come?" Ron asked when Harry and Sirius told them their plans for the day.

"You're more than welcome to. What do you think, Harry?" Sirius said.

"I'd rather hang out with Sirius by myself," Harry said quietly, almost a mumble.

Ron looked confused for a moment and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He'd always had a dad, a mom, and a shite load of older brothers. But Harry had no one until now.

"It's okay, mate. I understand totally," Ron said and headed off with Hermione and Neville to do a little bit of studying.

Harry cast a warming charm on them as they headed past the front gate to apparate. Sirius did a few practise apparitions just to be safe, as Harry would be side-along apparating with him.

"You ready?" Sirius asked Harry after several perfect apparitions.

"You sure you won't splinch us?" Harry asked, still a little dubious. "We're going farther than a few feet, and I'm going with you."

"We'll be fine, Harry. Trust me," he said, patting the back of Harry's head.

Harry smiled and took Sirius' hand with a nod. He felt Sirius grip his hand a little tighter and start to spin away from him. Everything went black and he felt pressure on him from all directions. He couldn't breath, and his eyes were being pushed back into his head. His eardrums were being forced deeper into his skull, and then...

He gulped great lungfuls of the crisp, winter air and opened his watering eyes. He felt like he had been shoved through a rubber tube. It was a few seconds before he realised that they weren't outside Hogwart's anymore, but standing in front of Olivander's wand shop. He blinked his eyes a bit, but could still see a faint golden aura around himself and Sirius. It had a narrow trail that streamed off to the north.

"What's the matter?" Sirius asked as he watched Harry look between him and his hands.

"Er, is this suppose to happen?" Harry asked as the aura faded a couple of seconds later.

"Is what supposed to happen?" Sirius asked puzzled.

"I think I can see the magic you used to apparate us. It's gone now. It only lasted a coupled of seconds, and it had a trail that lead up north, where Hogwart's is."

Sirius got down on a knee to look Harry in the eyes. "Harry, only a few people can actually see magic. I'm pretty sure Dumbledore can, and a few other people in recent history."

"What does it mean?" Harry asked a little fearfully.

"Don't worry, it's just another manifestation of your power. Can you remember if it's happened before?"

"Yeah, I think so. Back when I first got to Hogwart's," Harry answered. "I think we should talk to uncle Albus about it, if he can do it too."

"Good idea," Sirius said and gave Harry a quick hug before they entered the wand shop.

Harry looked around at the shop once they were inside. It was just as he remembered from last summer when he got his own wand. He sat in the single rickety chair as Sirius went up to the counter.

"Ah, Mr. Black and Mr. Potter," Olivander said, appearing from behind a stack of boxes. "I heard that the terrible wrong done to you and your young charge had been rectified."

"A little," Sirius said. "The healing is gonna take some time, though. So what have you got for me?"

"Oh we shall see, Mr. Black, we shall see," Olivander said and his tape measure started measuring Sirius.

"Hmmm," Olivander said after a couple of dozen wands failed to choose Sirius. "I wonder. I just completed my first multiwood wand. Yew and Holly braided together, 13¼ inches, with a very rare core that I've never used before."

"Really? And what might that be?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Basilisk eye," he answered back with an evil grin and retrieved the wand.

As he handed it to Sirius, the wand actually jumped the last two inches of the distance into his hand. Immediately Sirius felt both hot and cold all over and with a short wave, green and gold sparks shot out of it, casting the room in an odd, purple glow.

"Woah!" Sirius said.

"Indeed, the power to look after young Potter until he faces Voldemort again, I believe," Olivander said.

Sirius paid for the wand out of the Ministry apology money he received the day they released him. Then they went to a leather shop and Sirius got a pair of dragonhide boots and a jacket. After that, they went to a Realtor to get some listings for a new house. Sirius then got himself his own fancy trunk and hit Gringott's for some muggle money. They got some lunch in muggle London and spent the rest of the day there. Sirius let Harry pick him out some new clothes, jeans and teeshirts mainly, but also a few nice suits, modern, stylish ones straight out of GQ magazine.

With parts to fix his bike as well as some tools, Sirius apparated with Harry back to Hogwart's gate. They walked over to Hagrid's cabin, and pulled the cover off the bike. Sirius levitated it, and took it to a spare classroom near the front of the school before he and Harry went to dinner in the Great Hall.

Ron joined them when they started to work on the bike after dinner. Sirius took the bike apart to inspect it, and to remove the rust thoroughly with his new wand. It was late by then, so they called it a night. Sirius slept at the foot of Harry's bed again in his animagus form, and Norbert kept them both at peace.

The next morning, they looked over the listings from the Realtor. Wizard listings are a lot better than muggle ones. The picture moves through the whole house in a virtual tour, and some even have a charm that lets you experience the memory of someone going through the house.

Remus came over and gave a few suggestions on which ones they should consider, as did everyone else, even Draco. Oddly, Draco's suggestion of a medium to large ranch was taken seriously. It wasn't in the greatest shape, needed a lot of work actually, but that would give Sirius something to do while Harry was in class. The fact that it was just outside of Hogsmeade also meant that Harry would be able to stay there most, if not every weekend. They made a list of acceptable houses, with Draco's suggestion at the top.

After breakfast, they went to check out all of the houses on their list. Ron and Remus came along, each adult side-along apparating each boy. By the time they headed to London for a lunch of fish and chips, it was decided that the Hogsmeade house was the one they wanted.

Sirius set things in motion to buy the house, then at Harry's suggestion, they went and saw a movie. They all found it exciting, as they had never seen one before.

The next day, they closed on the house, and moved the bike and tools there. It took them both the rest of the day to clean it thoroughly, even with magic. Sirius showed Harry a few repairing charms, and they fixed the few broken pieces of furniture that was there. It was only a kitchen table, a few chairs, a couch, and a couple of beds.

The house itself was big enough for them both, with room to spare. It was bigger than the Dursley's by far. A large master bedroom with its own large bathroom, and a slightly smaller bedroom for Harry, also with its own bathroom. Twice as big as Dudley's Harry noticed. Good sized living room with a huge fireplace, large kitchen and a dining room. It wasn't set too far back from the road, but it had a good sized back yard to make up for it.

Being on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, they had a phone and were able to call in an order for pizza in the next town and have it delivered for dinner. Sirius watched as Harry made the call.

"We'll have to be careful, or Ron's dad will visit and never leave. Ron says he's mad about muggle things," Harry said grinning.

"I like it, though," Sirius said. "We're far enough out that a simple ward lets muggle stuff work, and yet we're close enough to walk to Hogsmeade. It's only a couple of blocks down."

"Yeah, and if you buy me a bike, I can ride into the muggle town, easily," Harry said, raising his eyebrows in a hinting way.

"Gotcha, don't be so obvious," Sirius said chuckling. "I'm gonna try and hold back, but don't get upset if I end up spoiling ya a bit."

"I'll deal with it," Harry smarted out.

"Good to hear," Sirius said. "Tomorrow's New Years eve, and the other kids are due back the 2nd , so we'll get the bike next weekend, and maybe a few more things for the house."

The doorbell rung then, making them both jump and then laugh at themselves. They got the pizza and pigged out before crashing in their new house. Between being stuffed with pizza and be so tired from cleaning all day, neither of them had any nightmares.

The next day they spent working on the bike, and Remus, Ron, Hermione, and Neville dropped by for lunch. Dumbledore and McGonagall, along with a few other staff members not including Snape, also dropped by throughout the day.

Harry and Sirius rang in the New Year with everybody in the Great Hall at Hogwart's It was a good party, and Harry got his first taste of butterbeer, and loved it. Sirius got a little buzzed, so they just stayed in Harry's dorm that night.

They spent New Years day working on the bike, adding some extra charms, besides refreshing the one that made it fly. By the end of the day, the bike was done, and they were finished, crashing where they fell on the couch.

Sirius woke to sunlight streaming through the front window. He was laying on the couch and Harry was snuggled up to him, with his back to his chest, hugging his arm like he would hug Norbert. Sirius then realised he had no nightmares, though he was quite sore from the couch.

"Hey, Harry. You awake yet?" Sirius said, giving Harry a little shake.

"Yeah," Harry yawned and opened his eyes. "Well, I guess the party's over," he said sadly. "I gotta go back to school."

"Well, then let's go for a nice long ride on the bike then," Sirius said, getting a smile from Harry as they headed for their bathrooms to take care of business.

Dressed identically in jeans, boots, and leather jackets, they headed out into the crisp air. They stared at the completed bike glaring at them in the winter sunlight. A 1980 Yamaha XS 1100, all black with gold rims and trim. A two seater, it weighed in at 286.0 kg (630.5 pounds) and the listed top speed was 215.0 km/h (133.6 mph), though with the various charms and modifications, it could go a bit faster than that.

It had a six inch sissy bar on the back, but there were charms to keep it from tipping and keep anyone from falling off, so it was mostly just for looks. Sirius climbed on and Harry slid in behind him. He kicked the engine to life and smiled back at Harry who was grinning from ear to ear. Handing Harry a pair of dark sunglasses, he slipped a pair on himself and then clicked on the warming and noise-dampening charms to make the ride a little more pleasant.

"All set back there?" Sirius said and gunned the engine, letting it warm up.

"Yeah," Harry said as he gripped the ridges of Sirius' leather jacket tightly.

He gunned the engine again, and they felt the power rumbling under them. "Care for a little rock music?" he asked.

"Cool," Harry said, grinning still.

Sirius nodded and gunned the engine again. He clicked on the radio and turned it up. Sirius put the bike in gear, and pushed it, leaving a long, black, trail down the road as 'Back In Black' by AC/DC began playing.

They stopped and had a late breakfast in the muggle town, then headed down the two lane highway and enjoyed the countryside. A couple of hours later, they stopped at a petrol station to fill the tank and grab a few snacks. Charms made the gasoline last longer, but didn't eliminate the need for it. Harry looked at him funny when he cleaned the place out of Nestle Crunch bars and put them in the saddlebags.

"Hey, they're my favourite and Honeydukes doesn't carry them," Sirius said in defense and Harry just grinned and shook his head.

Heading back north, Sirius said, "Ready to fly? The anti-muggle charms should keep us from being seen."

"Oh yeah, let's go," Harry agreed _enthusiastically._

_Sirius glanced around to double check they were alone, then flicked another switch and they rose into the air. Harry held tighter to Sirius as they glided over the tree tops. Higher they went, both of them as giddy as school girls, and broke through the clouds that had begun to roll in. Harry had never even been this high on his broom. The clouds rolling under them peacefully, they felt alive and safe, and totally exhilarated. Nothing could hurt them up here. They shared a deep connection as they watched the beauty of the blue sky and sun above, and the white, fluffy clouds below._

_Sirius did some minor acrobatics up there, getting Harry to giggle madly at the joy of it all, hell, he was laughing pretty good himself as they flew around. Once they saw the sun start to set, they headed down and to the castle. The other students had already returned and a few were having a snowball fight when Sirius and Harry landed after circling the grounds a few times._

_"Well, I guess I'll see you, Harry," Sirius said after they got off the bike._

_"Yeah," Harry said and looked down._

_"Hey," Sirius said, lifting Harry's chin with a finger to look into his emerald green eyes. "I"m just down the street. Are you gonna be okay?"_

_Harry finally smiled. "Yeah, I got Norbert."_

_"Alright then, you be good, okay? And let me know if Snivellus gives you any grief."_

_"Snivellus?"_

_"Oh, sorry, Professor Snape. Don't call him that though, it'll definitely make things worse."_

_Harry smiled and gave Sirius the strongest bone crushing hug an eleven year old could. Sirius patted him on the head and climbed aboard the bike once more. It roared to life and then he was gone._

_"Who was that?" Seamus Finnegan, one of Ron's dormmates asked._

_"A present from Father Christmas. My godfather, and now he's my new dad," Harry replied thoughtfully as Sirius and the bike got smaller and smaller._

"You got a dad now?" said another boy Harry didn't know very well. "That's cool."

"I think so," Harry smiled.

"Cool bike too," said Justin Finch-Fletchley, a boy in Harry's year from Hufflepuff house. "My dad has one almost just like it, but his don't fly."

"My dad added that," Harry said and picked up a snowball. "You guys looked like you were having fun earlier, can I help?"

The answer he got was a glob of snow to the side of his head by Ron, who had sneaked up behind him. "That's for not giving me a ride on the bike, or even telling me you guys had finished it."

Harry answered back with an even larger snowball, and the fight was on. By the time they trudged back into the castle, they were thoroughly wet and covered in melting snow. Filch was about to tell them off when Harry saw Peeves the poltergeist down the hall. Harry caught the jokester's eye and gave him a pleading look. It didn't work. Then Harry nudged one of the twins next to him and asked if he had any stuff with him. He pulled out a stink bomb and handed it to Harry discreetly and watched to see what he had in mind.

Harry held it up where Peeves could see but Filch couldn't. He certainly took notice of that. Harry's instinctual magic took over for him and he managed to banish the stink bomb right into Peeves hand. Peeves was now only too happy to oblige in a bit of trouble. He picked up and dropped a suit of armor that was next to him and then let off the stink bomb.

Harry and the other's darted in all directions when Filch turned around and started screaming at the pesky poltergeist. Filch was extremely pissed off to say the least, because all of the kids got away. And so did Peeves.

"That was brilliant!" one of the twins said through the tin can connecting Harry's and Ron's dorms.

"Yeah, how did you do that?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I guess I'm getting better control of my magic. I could sense Peeves' aura, and just kind of sent the stink bomb to him. In fact, ever since I did, er, you know what to Pettigrew, I've felt a lot better as far as my magic goes."

"That's cool," came a twin's voice.

"I've been meaning to tell you, Ron, sorry about losing you your pet," Harry said apologetically.

"No worries, mate. It weirds me out thinking about him sleeping with me like that. I'm glad he's gone, and I'm happy you got Sirius now."

"Yeah, me too. I'm getting a bit tired, so I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Later."

Sirius had nightmares again, but not nearly as bad as before. He woke up late, hopped on his bike and went to have breakfast in the muggle town. He knew he would need to fix up the kitchen soon and learn to cook, he was a father now. He decided to redo the whole kitchen, so he hit the big hardware store an ordered everything. He decided to let them install it as well, he was pretty handy around the house for a wizard, but didn't want to push his luck.

Then he headed for the ministry to get the house put on the floo network. While he was there, he met Arthur Weasley and invited him over for tea, and to show him his muggle house.

After tea, Sirius showed him around and how to use a phone. He was flabbergasted at the fact it was easier and more efficient to use than floo for simple conversation.

"Arthur?" Sirius asked as they set the phone back on the hook.

"Hmmm?" Arthur said, staring at the phone still.

"I was hoping to ask your advice about being a father. I'm worried about Harry. He's been through so much."

Arthur sat down on the couch and thought for a moment. "Well, after all these boys, and a daughter that's going to start Hogwart's next year, I can say that kids are pretty resilient. It will take time I'm sure, but things will be alright. There is a simple answer, really. I'm surprised most people don't get it."

Sirius leaned forward on the edge of his seat. "Really? What is it?"

"Love them. Respect too, respect as a person. But love them. Love them with all your heart when they're good, and even more when they're bad. Although, my wife sometimes forgets that with the twins," he added with a chuckle."

"That sounds easy enough, I suppose," Sirius sighed.

"You both went through some bad times, Sirius. I don't even want to imagine what Askaban was like, especially when you're innocent. Look, all kids are good sometimes, then other times, they're like you," Arthur said with a straight face.

"Hey," Sirius frowned and then smiled. "I hear Fred and George are trying to give me and James a run for our money."

"I don't know, I think maybe they're set to beat you guys out. My wife and I left Hogwart's before you got there, but I've heard the stories about you."

"Well, I was planning on spoiling Harry a bit. Okay, a lot," Sirius added after the look Arthur gave him, "and now I think it's time to teach him a little about following in our footsteps."

"Oh no, an all out prank war between my twins, and the Potter-Black prodigy, I think I'll leave town," Arthur said laughing.

After thanking him for his advice, Sirius offered to let him watch the next day when the contractors would redo the kitchen. Arthur, of course, was ecstatic, and agreed to drop by the next day. Which he did the next morning using the new floo connection. Sirius was glad he stocked up on floo powder.

They watched in fascination as the contractors carefully removed the old cabinets, countertops and sink, and then installed the new ones. It took them all day, but when they were done, it was absolutely beautiful. And functional too. Sirius had bought the biggest refrigerator they had, all stainless steel, and a stove and dishwasher to match. Arthur was just in awe at all of the muggle appliances as Sirius explained everything as best he could, only learning from Lily, and Harry the past few days, about muggle life.

"Say, I gotta go ask Dumbledore a favour, and I'm going to watch Harry during quidditch practise, you got the time to go? Maybe say hello to your boys?" Sirius asked cheerfully.

"Yeah, good idea," Arther responded and they headed out.

"Ah, Albus," Sirius said as he met the man coming out of Hogwart's. "I was wondering if I might borrow Pip for a while. I don't trust the family house-elf, in fact I always hated him, and he would probably be a liability down the road."

"Certainly," Dumbledore said distractedly.

"What's up?" Sirius asked as they headed toward the quidditch pitch.

When they got there, Paulo had just released the balls and snitch for a practise game. Harry was staring at it and blinking. It soon vanished, and Harry seemingly stared at nothing for several minutes before frowning and landing his broom in disgust. He kicked the trunk that usually held the balls and sat down on it.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Paulo said, landing quickly as the others ran up.

"I have to quit the team," Harry said angrily.

"What, can't you see the snitch without your glasses?"

"No, I told you, I don't need glasses anymore, it's just that..." Harry trailed off, a grim look on his face.

Sirius knelt in front of him, but said nothing, just looked into his eyes. Harry stared back, several emotions playing on his face, the strongest that Sirius saw being sadness.

"Albus, I think I know the problem and Severus can help," Sirius said, a reassuring gaze aimed at Harry.

"Help with what?" Snape spat out as he strode up.

"Harry can see the snitch's magical trail, it's aura, and clearly that's cheating," Sirius said and gave Harry a smile.

"Is that true, Harry?" Dumbledore inquired.

Harry nodded. "I love quidditch, but I could find the snitch in an instant. It isn't fair."

"Prove it." Snape smirked in a tone of impossibility.

Harry scowled at him and glanced toward the pitch and pointed. "Over by the third goal post." Suddenly the little golden snitch zoomed from where Harry had said right over and into his hand.

Harry let go and the snitch zoomed off. "I can summon it, too."

"But there are antisummoning charms on the snitch," Paulo said, wide eyed.

"I know, that's why I have to quit. It's cheating," Harry said sadly.

"Harry," Sirius said and Harry looked up. "There is a complicated potion that should prevent that, with a little modification."

Dumbledore smiled, "Yes, I believe I know the potion. Severus, you know the one of which he speaks?"

Snape frowned. He didn't like the idea of so much trouble helping Potter and Black, but without a seeker, the Slytherin team had no chance of winning. "Yes," he said simply. "It will take a few days to brew."

"I have to drink a special potion?" Harry frowned a bit. "I don't want to bind my magic, though."

"No," Snape sighed in frustration. "You don't drink it. Although binding your magic completely like that..."

"Severus," Dumbledore actually snarled like a Slytherin.

"To keep it narrow and specific, the snitch will be dipped in the potion. It will mask it's magical signature so that you can't sense it like that, or summon it. We of course, must keep this secret, or the other team will insist on a different seeker when we win anyway," Snape said.

"Understandable," Dumbledore said. "It is amazing, Harry. To the best of my knowledge, the only other wizard I know of that can see magic like that, is myself."

"You can see it too?" Harry asked.

"Yes indeed. Perhaps extra lessons are in order so that you learn to control it."

Harry frowned. "I like studying, but I wanted some more time to myself, just to be more normal."

"You'll have that, Harry," Sirius said. "especially when we go get you that bike this weekend. No problems about him staying with me in Hogsmeade on weekends, is there Albus?"

Dumbledore nearly frowned but relented. "Certainly not."

"Oh, and Pip?" Sirius added.

"Pip? What about him?" Dumbledore asked, oblivious.

Sirius frowned. "I asked if I could borrow him to help get some things from my mum's old house and to help deal with her insane house-elf. You said no problem. You must be losing it old man."

Dumbledore sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Indeed. I do grow weary of late, and forgetful. Yes, in fact, I believe that your elf may be a liability in the future, especially where Harry is concerned. Hogwart's has plenty of house-elves, and if Pip is agreeable, you may keep him."

Sirius and Arthur looked at each other with worry and sadness. Snape reluctantly went to begin working on the potion so Harry would remain on the team. Practise continued then, and Harry just worked on avoiding the bludgers, which were, oddly enough, able to hide from his ability to detect magic.

Sirius was impressed with Harry's ability on a broom, as was Arthur. He was also very proud of Harry, not just for that, but for not wanting to cheat. Harry blushed and beamed at the praise he got from Sirius, feeling something he had never felt before, pride from a parent.

Pip was very agreeable to change owners, with one exception, he preferred to actually belong to Harry. The transfer was made, and then Harry gladly gave instructions to obey Sirius.

Then they all went inside for dinner, and for Arthur to say hello to his boys. They chatted and talked late, Arthur telling them about all the things he learned over at Sirius' house. Then it was time for Arthur and Sirius to leave and the boys to get to bed.

When Harry hugged Sirius goodbye, Ron realised that with deatheaters on the loose still, along with Voldemort's spirit, he could lose his father anytime. He decided to hug his father too, not caring what others thought. The twins followed suit, as they never cared for what others thought anyway. The older brother Percy, however, was cold, and only gave a handshake to his father as goodbye.

"Well, Pip," Sirius said standing at the door to his dead mother's house, Number 12, Grimmauld Place, "I think I should probably keep everything in there for now, but if I get rid of her, er, my house-elf, Kreacher, he might take something that would serve Voldemort. I know he would go straight to my cousin Narcissa."

"Don't worry sir. I will talk at him before you gives him clothes. And my magic will protect your possessions."

The moment he set foot in the door, a blast of horrid smell hit him. The place was filthy, and brought back the bad memories of his youth.

"Kreacher?" Sirius yelled out, and a half crazed house-elf appeared. "He's all your's Pip."

"What? Whose there?" came a voice behind a curtain.

"It's me mum, Sirius," he said and pulled back the curtain to reveal his mother's portrait.

"Blood Traitor!" it screamed. "The embarrassment. Get out of my house!" it continued.

Sirius closed the curtain as the portrait kept screaming. He tried a silencing charm, but it didn't work.

"Would you please destroy that, as well?" Sirius asked and Pip nodded.

Immediately, the house was silent and the two house-elves had vanished. Sirius pulled the curtain back and the portrait was gone. Soon the house-elves popped back in, and Pip was holding a tee-shirt that said 'I'm stupid' on it.

"Here you is sir," Pip said, handing Sirius the shirt. "He WILL be no trouble once you gives him that."

Sirius looked at Kreacher, and while he still looked insane, he also looked defeated. Sirius smiled and gave him the tee-shirt. He frowned and put the tee-shirt on, then popped out, taking his ancestors heads that hung on the wall, with him. Sirius was glad of that.

After a thorough disinfecting charm and exorcism just to be safe, Sirius had Pip take his parents kingsize bed to his bedroom back in Hogsmeade. Then after a good cleaning charm on his own bed from when he was younger, Pip took that to Harry's bedroom. With a few other pieces of furniture to make the other house more livable, Sirius and Pip left, giving the wards a boost to keep unwanteds out.

Harry watched as Snape levitated the snitch into the potion, following the magical trail with his eyes. The snitch reemerged from the potion and glowed brightly for a moment, before resuming it's normal color. It darted about, and Harry tracked it with his eyes again, but saw no trail this time.

"Did it work?" Sirius asked and Snape frowned at him. "Be quiet, Snape. You're just as imperfect as you claim James was, and could have made a mistake in the modification."

"It worked," Harry said gladly.

"Try and summon it," Sirius said and Harry put out his hand and concentrated hard.

"I can't," Harry smiled as the snitch just darted off to hide.

Sirius smiled and turned to Snape with an ominous and serious look. "Thanks," he said and held out his hand.

Snape was beyond shocked, and absently shook the offered hand. "It was in the best interests of my house," he managed to mumble out before spinning around and leaving.

Harry hopped on his broom and practised. He wanted to impress Sirius badly, and did so when he allowed himself to forget to try so hard. He couldn't see any magical trail on the snitch, but he was still able to catch it quickly and efficiently. He caught Sirius' proud gaze below him, and blushed. So this is what it's like to have a parent, Harry could get real used to this.

Slytherin was doing much better working as a team, and did well against Hufflepuff a few days later. Harry caught the snitch, giving them a 210 to 100 victory. After spending a bit of time with his teammates celebrating, he bid them goodbye.

Harry and Sirius walked slowly to the house, talking about the game mostly. When they got home, they hopped on Sirius' bike, and took a ride, getting a few things to help make the house more like a home. Such as a few TV's, video games, and, of course, a bike for Harry.

Sirius' magic was nearly at full strength now, and he was able to shrink all of the new stuff so they could get them home. Harry told Sirius about the first time he got his wand, and showed him by reenlarging everything when they got home.

"Wow, and you did that when you first got your wand?" Sirius said amazed.

"Yeah, they said I should keep it quiet, and I have, even from my friends," Harry said sadly.

"I'm proud of you, though. I think you could tell your friends, from what you've said, they could keep it a secret."

"Thanks, dad," Harry said and looked around at the new furniture. "This is some cool stuff."

"Check out your new bed," Sirius said and followed him to the bedrooms, levitating two of the TV's behind him.

Harry loved the new bed, and with a bit of work, both bedrooms were arranged and decorated the way they wanted. Then they made dinner, much to Pip's displeasure, though they did have him teach them how to cook, which was almost as good for Pip.

Sunday, Harry cast a warming charm on himself and took his new bike for a spin. Sirius had to help at first, because Harry had never actually learned to ride a bike at the Dursleys. He took to it pretty quick, though, and was off heading towards the muggle town. He headed back early because there weren't any other kids out riding due to the cold.

Harry told his friends about what happened when he first got his wand. Hermione was a little jealous, but it was really no big deal. They knew he was magically strong because of the outbursts, which haven't happened since Christmas.

Late winter gave way to spring, with Harry spending every weekend at the house. He loved hearing about his parent's days at Hogwart's, and wanted to try some real pranking, but between staying ahead of his schoolwork and his quidditch training, he didn't really have the time. There was also the extra training with Professor Dumbledore, which, though infrequent because of the headmaster's schedule, was coming along well.

It was Friday at the start of the easter holiday and Harry and Sirius were finally settled into the house. Harry was looking forward to some major free time, to enjoy feeling like a normal kid. Sirius was outside washing his bike when Harry decided to go for a walk over to Honeydukes.

"Can I go get some easter chocolate over at Honeyduke's?" Harry asked as he stepped out into the sunshine.

"Sure, get me some Bertie Bott's too okay?" Sirius replied, giving Harry a smile.

"Sure thing, Ron and Hermione should be here soon. How long till dinner?"

"The roast should be in the oven about another hour, I've really got the hang of this cooking thing."

"Cool, back in a bit," Harry said cheerfully and trotted off down the street.

Ron and Hermione showed up about ten minutes later. "Harry inside?" Ron asked.

"Nah, he went up to Honeyduke's, should be back anytime." Sirius replied as he looked up and saw Harry walking up the street. "Speak of the devil."

Ron and Hermione looked over to see Harry about a block away. He gave them a wave, and then was suddenly hit in the chest by what looked like a dagger. He fell to the sidewalk like a ton of bricks, and Hermione screamed.

**A/N: _Well, I like cliffies sometimes, especially when I'm the giver, not the receiver. Should I make each year a separate story like JKR, or just keep going as one long story? Or even retitle it as Destiny Year one, two, etc? Reviews are always a good thing, please keep them coming._**


	20. What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Stronger

_Well, here it is. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. In case you didn't guess, heavy gore warning on this one. Also, I haven't said before I don't think, I don't own or make anything from the Harry Potter Universe, it's all J K R. I only wish that I did. I hope you like it._

"**Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 20, "What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Stronger"**

Hermione, pale as a sheet, sprinted toward Harry. She blinked back tears as she examined him, afraid to touch him. She looked up at Sirius, who arrived a second later.

"Is he?" Sirius gasped, tears streaming down his face.

"He's alive, and he's breathing," Hermione whimpered, trying to remain clear headed as she started to shake. "I think maybe the dagger is keeping him from bleeding to death. Sirius, we need a doctor, or a healer, now."

Ron just stared in a daze, not really understanding what or why. His best friend laying in the street with a dagger sticking out of his chest. He thought he might be sick any moment.

Sirius just noticed a crowd gathering. "Is anyone a healer?" he cried out. Not hearing an answer, he ran to his bike, calling back, "I'm going for Madame Pomfrey."

He jumped on his bike and roared out like a bat out of hell. He made the trip to the school in less than a minute, landing right in front of the big oak doors. He ran in screaming "Harry's been hurt, Harry's been hurt." and headed straight for the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey heard his screaming echoing in the halls and met him halfway.

"Lets go" she said, and didn't even hesitate when they got back to his bike, but just climbed right behind Sirius and held on tight with one hand and her medical bag with the other.

The return trip was even faster as Sirius willed more speed out of the bike. Poppy immediately went to work examining the unconscious Harry. Everyone just looked on as she used various diagnostic spells to find out the extent of the damage.

"We must leave now before the aurors show up," whispered a female voice, attempting not to be overheard.

"No, not until we are sure the blade did its job. No one can detect us here, we are safe," replied a male voice, equally as quiet.

Finally Pomfrey looked up with a stern face and Sirius went white, fearing the worst.

"It's not as bad as it looks, Sirius. He will live, but it will be extremely rough on him when I remove the dagger. It isn't actually in his body. You see, he's not bleeding at all. It's sharing the same space as him."

"You mean he's splinched into the dagger?" Hermione questioned.

"Not exactly. Quick reflexes this one. He has enormous magical power, and a shield instinctively went up before the blade struck. It surrounds the blade, causing bilocation, but It's taking all of his magical energy to remain undamaged, thats why he's unconscious."

"So he splinched the blade into him," Ron said blandly.

"In layman's terms, yes. But undoing bilocation is a tricky business. I will have to remove the blade very quickly because the shield will drop almost immediately. It won't cut him, but it will be painful. Cradle his head, Sirius, and put your hand in his." Poppy then put a stick of wood gently into Harry's mouth to bite down on for pain, and to keep him from biting his tongue.

"Ready?" Poppy asked. Sirius, looking grim, just nodded, and in the blink of an eye she pulled out the dagger.

Harry arched his back and screamed loud enough to wake Godric Gryffindor, breaking the wood between his teeth. But as quickly as the pain had started it left, leaving a dull, throbbing bruise behind. Harry opened his eyes and glanced at the dagger Pomfrey was examining.

She scowled angrily and said, "This dagger is covered with an anticoagulation potion, if Harry's reflexes hadn't caught it, there would have been nothing I could have done."

Harry took a deep cleansing breath. His anger and nostrils flared as he concentrated on the blade. He immediately sensed the magical trail left behind during it's flight, and knew exactly where the would be assassin was. With a flash of magic, Harry grabbed and banished the dagger back along the magical trail, right to the perpetrator, aiming away from the heart, as he wanted this person to suffer a bit, not die instantly, like he would have.

"That scream shall be the end of Potter," the man said and took the woman's hand. "We may now leave, my sweet," he added and in the next moment was struck in the chest by the dagger, piercing his lung.

"No!" the woman screamed frantically as they both stumbled out of the bushes.

The whole area shown brightly with magic as a special antiapparition ward was cast, disallowing anyone to leave. Then a dozen pops accompanied the arrival of a dozen aurors, who immediately apprehended the would be assassins, confiscating their wands.

Poppy had ran over to the downed man and saw the blood poring out of him. She looked up at the women who had been the accomplice and asked, "I need to know the exact potion used on the dagger or I won't be able to save him."

The woman reached into her robes and pulled out a small vial. She handed it to Poppy who quickly grabbed another potion from her bag and went to work.

When he was out of danger an auror said, "Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Harry Potter."

"It will be very painful for a long time Mr. Malfoy." Poppy said disgustedly, then turned to the auror, " He is safe enough to travel, at least he won't die that is, you may take him."

As the crowd around Malfoy had slowly dispersed, a stunned Draco, who had seen everything, stayed behind. He looked down at the bloody dagger that lay on the ground. He shuddered and fell to his knees. His whole world had come crashing down around him.

Harry had been the only one to notice the shocked and distraught Draco. 'People don't even care in the wizarding world.' Harry thought to himself. "Let me up" Harry said forcefully as he got up and made his way to the youngest Malfoy. As he slowly walked up to Draco he noticed that the pale boy had picked up the dagger and was holding it with the blade pointing toward his abdomen. "Hey" he said quickly and quietly when he saw the fingers tighten on the handle. "Only a Hufflepuff would do that Draco." Draco looked up at Harry with sad eyes, "I'm sorry Draco, I didn't know it was him."

"It's not your fault, it's his." Draco said as he stood up and wiped his eyes. "I'll be alright, wouldn't want your life to get dull would I?"

An auror then snatched the dagger out of Draco's hand. "What're you doin with that? That's evidence, not that we really need anymore with all of these witnesses and catching them red handed," he said and then his tone softened a bit. "Sorry kid, A rep from the child welfare office should be here any minute."

"That's fast," Harry said.

"Yeah, well, after Black was proven innocent and released, we started to keep more of an eye on the prominent deatheaters who got off. Lots of back up plans were put in place. Excuse me, please."

Harry and Draco watched the auror leave, a thoughtful look on both of their faces.

Poppy walked over, quickly followed by Sirius, Ron and Hermione. "How do you feel Mr. Potter?" she asked.

"Well, okay I guess, except for a dull pain in my chest, almost hurts when I take a deep breath."

"Well an injury like that should have killed you, you're lucky you've got good instincts. You should be fine by Sunday."

Just then a witch that looked extremely overworked came up carrying a rather messy briefcase overflowing with parchment. "Draco Malfoy?" she said to Draco who nodded. "I'm from the Magical Children's Welfare Bureau. And are you one Mr. Sirius Black?" she addressed Sirius.

"Yes I am, whats this all about?" Sirius said, puzzled.

"You are Draco's only family left that isn't in Askaban. Would you be willing to take him in? At least for the time being?" she said hurriedly,shuffling through the parchment in her briefcase. "Or shall I haul him off to protective custody until we can appoint a guardian? I'm sure I have both forms here somewhere."

Draco started to say something, but couldn't find the words. Harry spoke up. "I cant believe this garbage. Hey, what about Draco? His parents were just taken to Askaban, don't you think you should worry about how he feels first? Shouldn't you see if he's alright? This is the same kinda crap I had with the Dursleys, NO ONE CARED. Sirius and I will of course take him in, and see to HIS welfare, for as long as he needs. Why don't you just go back and do your bureaucratic bullshit," he said and grabbed a shocked Draco by the hand and led him to the house.

A slightly stunned Ron and Hermione followed them in a minute later. Poppy stopped Sirius though, before he got inside the door.

"Sirius, it will catch up with him. He's running a bit on adrenaline right now," she said. "Just remember what I told you the other day. Young Malfoy may have some rough moments too, but he should recover more quickly."

Sirius nodded and went in. Dinner was silent and subdued. Ron and Hermione left after about fifteen minutes of deafening silence when they done eating. Draco curled up in an overstuffed chair and stared out the window, unseeing, while Harry lay with his head in Sirius' lap on the couch. He had removed his shirt, and was rubbing at the slightly red spot on his chest where the blade had hit.

Sirius sat there, sometimes rubbing Harry's hair in silence as he remembered his conversation with Poppy.

_flashback_

"Hey, Madam Pomfrey," Sirius said as he walked into the hospital wing at Hogwart's.

"How many times must I tell you, call me Poppy?" she replied. "Still having nightmares?"

"A few, but they're not as bad now," Sirius sighed. "They seem to go away when Harry sleeps with me or I crawl into his bed in my animagus form."

Poppy smiled at that. "I can't imagine what you went through, Sirius, though your nightmares aren't why you're here, are they?"

"No," Sirius shook his head and sat down in the offered chair. "I'm just worried about Harry. His mood varies, sometimes drastically. Arthur says just to love him, but, I don't know. I think maybe I should do more, somehow."

"Sirius, listen," she said and looked him in the eye. "Abused kids have mood swings. They can be happy and tough one minute, and crying the next. Harry even yelled at Albus, and then forgave him quickly, but I believe he still doesn't really trust him, because even when you think they're over it, there's still something left that survives even into adulthood. Especially with the level of abuse that was allowed to happen in this instance."

Sirius saw a shadow cross the woman's face at her mention of Dumbledore. "Is it normal though, for us to connect so quickly? I mean, sometimes he calls me Sirius, and sometimes he calls me dad. It's been that way since he woke up that first day."

The healer sighed and settled back for a long speech. "Alright. Abused kids don't trust most adults. The average child can usually tell if an adult is untrustworthy. The abused child, more so. In many cases, when a child finds an adult that he or she can trust, they latch onto them quickly, especially if that devotion is returned, as it was with you. Harry is unique even beyond his level of suffering from those muggles. His magic allows him to sense much more, especially on an unconscious level. He knows that you are the only person in his life that will provide true stability."

Sirius relaxed a bit. "How grownup should I treat him? I mean, over the last few months he's acted both independent and needy. When I come on the weekends for him, he'll rush right up to me usually, then ignore me until he's done playing, though a lot of the time I'll see him suddenly look over to me, like he thought I left or something."

"Let me say it this way, in many respects he is a normal eleven year old. But there is a part of him inside that's still like a five year old. Abuse can do that. Add to that his unusually high level of magic, and he can get confused. Especially with the magical panic attacks he was getting, which have stopped since you arrived. But basically, Arthur was pretty much right. Love him. Be there for him. He'll let you know how much, but you still have to learn to read between the lines. That will come with more time together. I have no doubt that you two will be fine."

_end flashback_

"Why did they try to kill me?" Harry asked quietly, breaking Sirius out of his thoughts.

He looked down to see Harry looking back at him, a few tears running down his face. "Because of that damn prophecy," Sirius said sadly. "You are a threat to the Dark Lord's return. That's how the remaining deatheaters see it, anyway."

Draco had turned to watch and listen to what they said. "Why did my parents have to do that?" he said softly.

"I guess they wanted power they couldn't get on their own," Sirius replied. "I don't really know, because I left my family. They wanted me to care about pureblood status, and follow Voldemort. But it was wrong, so I left."

Draco looked at his cousin with something akin to respect mixed with hope, before turning his gaze to his feet.

"Are you okay, Draco? You don't have to be like your parents if you don't want to. At least, not completely," Sirius said and Draco looked up again. "You can choose to emulate the best things about your parents."

Draco nodded in understanding. "I get it. I'm better now, no Hufflepuff chicken way out for me, I promise."

Harry smiled at that and got up. "Good. Now, er, what are we gonna do about beds?"

"Pip can get another bed from the family house," Sirius said. "And maybe set it up as bunkbeds?"

Draco frowned. "Can't you just expand the room? Dobby could help. Oh yeah, I have my own house elf now," he suddenly realised.

"Come on, Draco, bunkbeds would be cool," Harry said.

"Fine, but I get the bottom bunk," Draco responded adamantly.

"Good, I want the top anyway. The bottom would seem too much like my cupboard."

Dobby the house elf was thrilled to be working with the great Harry Potter, and was happy that the great Harry Potter was such a good influence on Master Draco. He was ecstatic when he was told to take orders from Harry and Sirius. All three had to tell him to shut up.

Sirius was sitting at a table outside the ice cream parlour in Diagon Alley, when he saw Poppy.

"Hey Poppy," he said as she walked over. "What are you doing here?"

"Just getting a few things before the students return from break tomorrow. Where are Harry and Draco?"

"They're over at the quidditch store. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something."

Poppy sat down and ordered an icecream, and told him to go ahead.

"I was wondering about the dagger. If Harry's magic protected him from it, why didn't it protect him from the Dursleys?"

"Oh, that's simple," she said. "The dagger was a dark artifact, filled with magic of a malicious nature. Harry's magic could sense the dark magic and responded. The Dursleys," she said in disgust, "are muggles. At least, the Uncle is, who was responsible for the physical abuse."

"The Dursleys," Sirius smirked. "I wonder how that committee is doing on choosing a punishment for them."

"I haven't heard anything yet. How is Harry, by the way?" she asked.

"He seems to be better, though he's slept with me every night since it happened. Draco did too that first night."

"I think they're both lucky to have you, not considering your school days."

Sirius blushed. "Yeah, well. I'm still knew to this, but I think I'm getting it.

"You're doing fine."

After dinner on a Friday in late spring, Harry came storming into the house, slamming his book bag down on the couch.

"What's the matter?" Sirius asked, though he suspected what was up.

Harry started pacing and ranting. "I know that exams are only a couple of weeks away, but does Snape have to be so rude? It's getting worse with every class. I'm ahead, but that's with a lot of extra work because he's so distracting. And Ron's doing okay. I mean sure, his potions aren't perfect, but they are passable. And Snape just keeps at it. It's the same thing with Hermione and Neville in their class. And I tell you this, Ron and Neville are both better than some of the other Slytherins, but Snape doesn't say a word to them." Harry stopped and looked up at Sirius. "Sirius, I've won the Quidditch cup for him, but he still keeps at it. Why?"

"That's just how he is. Do you want me to talk to Dumbledore?"

"Nah," Harry replied with a sigh before looking back up at him. "Dad, can I have a back rub?"

"Sure thing, Harry. Want me to use that Tiger Balm stuff?"

"Yeah, that would be brilliant," Harry replied as they headed to his room.

Sirius watched as Harry pulled off his shirt and laid down on his bed on his stomach, his head on his arms. The scars were fading at last, just barely noticeable. Sirius opened the small container of ointment and put some on his hands.

"Merlin you're tense, Harry," Sirius said as he began.

"Yeah, Snape does that to me," Harry said quietly, his voice muffled by his arms and pillow.

"You know Harry?"

"Hmmm?"

"I showed this stuff to Poppy."

"Hmmm?"

"Madam Pomfrey. She liked it. Said it was amazing what muggles did without magic. She has a squib cousin who is a muggle doctor. She hasn't spoken to her in a long time, but after I showed her this muggle ointment, she contacted her. They plan on getting together to combine their talents. Both muggle and wizard medicine have their limits, but they figure combining them would be able to do some amazing things."

Harry was smiling contentedly with his eyes closed.

"Harry?"

Sirius smiled and got up when Harry didn't respond. He spread a quilt over him and cut off the light. He stood at the doorway and watched him sleep for a few minutes before heading to his own bathroom to get ready for bed.

"I need to start dating," Sirius told his reflection after some thought about his own life. "Maybe not," he sighed, thinking he had only been cleared and free of Azkaban for a few months. "Who would I date, anyway?" he asked himself.

"Hey Padfoot," Remus said from the doorway, making him jump.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius asked, chuckling a bit.

"Harry seemed upset at dinner, so I thought I'd stop by."

"Yeah, he's okay. Snivellus is starting to piss me off."

"Starting?" Remus laughed.

"Ha ha," Sirius said, heading back to Harry's room.

They stood in the doorway, watching him sleep for several minutes before Remus spoke up.

"He's getting big on you," Remus said.

"I know," Sirius said. "I've had to lengthen his robes twice already."

"Have you seen the pictures Poppy took on his birthday?"

Sirius' face went a little dark then. "Yeah," he said. "He's starting to look like a regular eleven year old now though. The scars are barely visible."

"How's he doing with the other scars though?" Remus asked, gesturing to his head.

"He's getting better. Even the attack by the Malfoys doesn't seem to bother him anymore."

"Wait until puberty hits," Remus chuckled. "You and James were hell on the teachers, remember?"

Sirius laughed. "Oh yeah. Harry's gonna be something, isn't he?"

"Already is, pal," he replied and Sirius nodded.

Harry woke up early with a few thoughts running around his head. He grabbed some cereal for breakfast then started working on his idea for a special potion. He had all of his extra books around him in the kitchen as he worked.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Sirius asked when he got up. "I know Snape is a jerk, but it's a nice day out. Too nice for homework on a Saturday."

Harry blushed fiercely. "It's, er, not homework."

"Oh," Sirius said, a little shocked and a little proud. "I don't wanna know, then," he added with a smile and retreated from the kitchen with his own bowl of cereal.

It took most of the day, but Harry managed to figure out the potion that he wanted. "This will show Snape," he muttered to himself.

After grabbing a couple of apples, he headed to the backyard to figure out part two of his plan. He ate the first apple quickly, but then his concentration took over, and he didn't even notice Sirius walk up.

"Potion done?" Sirius asked.

"Er, yeah," Harry mumbled without looking up.

"What are you doing now?" Sirius asked as he watch Harry wave his wand in peculiar movements.

Harry sighed. "I'm trying to conjure a rock."

"Er, one, conjuring is beyond even your level of magic, and two, the yard's full of rocks."

"Well, rock, needle, stick," Harry said in frustration. "I don't care what, I just need to learn to conjure."

"That's part of your mistake," Sirius said, but stopped talking as a mist poured out of Harry's wand.

"What is it?" Harry asked excitedly.

The mist rolled around and started to solidify. It formed into a chubby little penguin wearing a bright red fedora. The little bird looked around in puzzlement and chirped.

"What did I do?" Harry asked and offered his creation an apple.

"I don't know," Sirius replied as the bird sniffed at the apple a couple of times, unable to make up it's mind.

"Er, maybe you should banish it," Harry said nervously. "And I should lay off conjuring for now."

Suddenly the penguin grabbed a rock and threw it through a window, shattering it completely. The bird then dissipated back into the nothingness that it came from.

"That was weird," Sirius said as he cast a repairing charm on the window. Even weirder was that it took several tries before the window was completely repaired.

"Definitely gonna lay off conjuring," Harry said as he examined the window.

"You were just concentrating on too many different things," Sirius said. "You gotta focus on one thing. The thing you're really after. So, why a rock?"

"I was just using a rock to practise. What I really want is to put letters in the air."

"Oh," Sirius smiled. "That's completely different than an actual solid object. Words are just visible, with no real substance. An illusion of sorts."

Sirius waved his wand, and the words, 'hello Harry' sprung into being in big green letters. With another wave, the colours alternated between green and silver. Then they became flaming letters before vanishing.

"You don't even need much wand movement, as it's your thoughts that are controlling it," Sirius added. Then in a whisper, "Since its not a spell, it usually can't be traced back to the wand."

"Ah,' Harry smiled. "Alright, er, let me try."

With a barely a movement of his wand, large letters appeared over the house, flashing in rotating colours. 'Snivellus Snape Is A Slug' is what it said, making Sirius laugh before he banished them.

"Don't want to attract the muggles, Harry. But I think you got it."

Snape's attitude was even worse during exams week. Harry was angry, but kept his cool during his and Ron's exam. Ron kept his cool too, following Harry's example. The calmer they stayed, the angrier Snape got. At the end of the exam, Harry nodded to Ron, who smiled, and they headed off to dinner. In the Great Hall, they both nodded to Hermione and Neville, who grinned and took their seats.

"What's going on, Potter?" Draco whispered to Harry at the Slytherin table.

"Er, nothing," Harry snickered back.

The group of four, plus Draco watched the head table as Snape sat down and began to eat. Immediately, Snape shuttered, and knew something was wrong, just not what. Laughter spread slowly around the Hall as more and more students caught sight of Snape, who was sporting highly visible, glowing, neon pink hair.

Harry smirked at an open mouthed Draco, and with a subtle flick of his wand under the table, added a string of words above the potions professor.

Nearly everyone started cheering at the bright pink words that spelled, 'Entertainment Courtesy of the New Marauders'.

The other teachers at the head table were in shock, if not a little worried. Dumbledore and McGonagall caught each others eyes and then the eyes of Harry and his friends. Harry just smiled right back at them while his friends kind of blushed.

McGonagall smirked as she conjured a mirror for Snape. He started turning red when he saw his hair. Then he noticed the words, and spun around to read them. He turned his glare to Harry so quick one would have thought he hurt his neck.

Sirius figured something would happen today because of Harry's potion exam. He arrived just then and took in the whole scene. He was about to start laughing when Snape yelled.

"Potter!" Snape stood up and began to head toward the Slytherin table with a menacing look.

Sirius took off in a brisk walk to head him off when the headmaster spoke.

"Severus," he said in a tone that stopped Snape and Sirius in their tracks and silenced the entire Hall. "My office, if you please. Remus, if you would take Mr. Black, Mr. Potter and his three friends to your office."

"That was brilliant, Harry," Sirius said once they were in Remus' office.

"Now Sirius," Remus said. "We have no proof that Harry did anything."

"Right you are," Sirius replied while the kids giggled.

"Snape deserved worse," Ron pouted.

"Ron," Remus scolded. "I know that he sometimes is a little rude, but he is also a professor."

"Maybe not anymore," came Dumbledore's voice from the door.

"What?" Everyone exclaimed at once.

Dumbledore made his way in and sagged wearily into a chair. "His rudeness to students combined with his tendency to overreact has caused me to put him on probation. If he doesn't improve his attitude, he will not be allowed back next year."

"I don't believe it," Remus said.

"I just grow weary of this. He brings it on himself," Dumbledore said. " Really, the pink hair wore off after fifteen minutes."

"Aw, man, it was supposed to last an hour," Harry said. "Oops," he added after Dumbledore glared at him.

"No detention," Dumbledore sighed with a sad smile. "I do have some other news. I'm sorry Miss Granger, but you came in second in your test scores."

Hermione frowned. "So who beat me out?"

"Mr. Potter of course," he smiled. "In fact, he got the highest score of any first year on record."

"Really?" Sirius exclaimed. "Alright Harry. Good job."

Harry blushed fiercely at the praise.

"If you would like," Dumbledore continued. "To celebrate, and to make up for the Dursley situation, Minerva and I would like to take you out for a day in muggle London tomorrow. Hermione, Ron, and Neville are welcome to join us as well."

"Cool. Can I Sirius?" Harry asked.

"Absolutely, that way Remus and I can plan a party for you," Sirius winked at Remus who nodded.

"Ready to go?" Dumbledore asked everyone once they were assembled in the great Hall with permission from the other parents for this little excursion.

While they were all dressed in muggle clothes, Dumbledore still stood out slightly. They all gave a nod and put a finger on an old shoe at Dumbledore's direction. It was a portkey that would transport them all to Diagon Alley, where they would enter muggle London through the Leaky Cauldron. With a wave of Dumbledore's wand, the portkey activated and they all felt a tug behind their navel, pulling them along.

"This is so cool. Thank you Aunt Minerva and Uncle Albus," Harry said as they stepped out of the pub and into the morning sunlight.

"Now Harry," Minerva blushed and Albus smiled.

They walked around for most of the morning, taking in the sights. Ron was becoming as fascinated as his father, mainly because the wizarding world got things so wrong when describing muggles. With Hermione as a guide, even Harry was learning more and more, as he missed out on a lot thanks to the Dursleys. Neville was just amazed how muggles got along so well.

They had lunch at an outdoor deli, and chatted about what they had seen so far. Then Hermione and Neville headed to a bookstore while Harry and Ron went to a sporting goods store. Once the students had left, Dumbledore relaxed a bit, looking older and wearier than ever.

"Albus?" Minerva questioned.

Albus sighed heavily. "You know what to do when the time comes?" he asked.

"Oh my Albus, surely not yet?"

"Soon, very soon. I'm tired, Minerva, very tired. Much of my magic has faded now. I have trouble with the simplest spell. My time draws nearer."

Minerva took a deep breath and nodded. "I will see to things," she said resolutely.

"Wow, they have a whole section on gardening," Neville said excitedly, looking at all of the books.

"Yes they do," Hermione replied. "I love bookstores almost as much as libraries."

Hermione and Neville lost themselves in their own world of books while the other two Marauders checked out the sporting goods store.

"Hey, Ron, check that out," Harry said, pointing to a television playing a game of football.

Ron looked over and was immediately engrossed in it, watching the black and white ball get passed back and forth. "It looks a bit like a quaffle," he said.

"Yeah, no flying though, you have to rely on legwork to score," Harry grinned.

"Wow, it's so different, but still cool," Ron mumbled as his eyes glazed over a bit, focusing on the game.

Harry chuckled at his mate and went over to a basketball rack. He grabbed a ball, and started dribbling it, glancing back at Ron now and then, who was still transfixed on the TV. None of the sales clerks paid him any attention, so he just kept dribbling the ball. He wasn't very good, and kept losing control of the ball, sending it rolling off in all directions.

The ball bounced a little too hard, and ended up going out the open back door of the store. With a quick glance around, Harry headed out into the alley to find the ball. He heard the door slam shut behind him and before his eyes could adjust to the dark shadows of the ally, pain exploded in his right arm and he was propelled into the wall behind him.

Stars flared across his field of vision as he hit his head and found himself sliding down the wall. As his vision cleared he saw a man standing over him with a nasty glint in his eye and the handle of a mace in his hand. He saw blood dripping from the mace head, and somewhere in his foggy mind, Harry was half fascinated that, moments before, before his body has been insulted by injury, this red fluid had been part of him. He glanced at his arm and saw splattered blood and torn flesh where a few bones poke though the skin.

None of it seemed real, it must be some sort of a nightmare. Yes, the more he thought about it, he was sure he was back a Hogwart's, safely under his warm covers having a very, VERY bad dream.

There was a tap on his foot, and Harry glanced up as the man who was now swimming in and out of focus said, "Stay with us wee Potter, the fun is just beginning."

Taunting laughter echoed around the ally. If this was a nightmare, it looked like things would get worse before he could wake up. If it wasn't, well, he had left his wand back at school. Not that it would have done him much good, he couldn't have gripped a wand if he had one. He winced a bit as the pain in his arm seemed to be throbbing in time with his heart beat.

He remembered that he had done magic without a wand before, and he had to try now. He couldn't do it though. He couldn't focus enough, no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't throw any hexes to defend himself. He did feel his magic instinctively try to throw up a shield again as a golf club sped toward the left side of his head, spinning him around and down across the pavement.

He groaned as he tried to regain his feet. Fortunately, his magic seemed to have buffered the blow somewhat, after all he was still conscious. Unfortunately, his eye was puffy and rapidly swelling shut. Just as he managed to steadying himself a little, a solid kick to his ribs sent him against another brick wall. He felt a sharp pain and tasted blood. This new pain quickly brought some clarity to his thoughts. There were at least two attackers, more then he could handle in this shape. He tried to call for help, but all he could manage was a weak croak. He struggled toward his feet again, every breath felt sharp and painful.

"Oh no you don't,'" the man with the mace was in front of him again, "It would be rude to leave the party so early when you're the guest of honor." He swung the mace high in the air, and brought it down with all the force he and gravity could muster. A million tiny knives seemed to cut into Harry's arm as the bone was shattered between the bricks and the mace head. The mace continued it's swing in an arch away from his arm, carrying bits of flesh and muscle with it.

Harry screamed. His legs gave way and he started to slide down the wall once more. He was beginning to realise this was really happening, no nightmare hurt like this. He had to find a way to get help. He needed to stall his attackers until Dumbledore or someone found him.

He started to speak, but a sudden wave of nausea brought up bile instead. He spat it out and took a breath. "Why?" he managed to gasp.

"Oh, that's an easy one, Potter." The man smiled, "We're deatheaters. You have vanquished our Dark Lord, and when he returns we will offer him your head on a pike."

"When do I get a turn, Avery?" a third man asked.

"You don't mind don't mind living a few minutes longer, do you, Potter? I thought you might want to meet your playmates. At least you will be able to tell your dear parents who sent you to join them. I'm Avery, our golfer is Nott, your housemate's father, and the impatient man with the nice, sharp axe is Macnair. He does a little work on the side as an executioner for the ministry."

"You'll never get away with this." Harry was grasping for any way to stall them. "I'm supposed to be meeting Dumbledore, I'm already late. He must be looking for me, he should be here any minute."

"Then where is he?" demanded Nott. "The old man is past his prime boy. The bumbling old fool is probably lost on the other side of London. I wouldn't count on his help. Avery, why don't you let Macnair have a go."

The man with the axe stepped forward, grinning madly.

"I'm curious why you're not using magic? Are the deatheaters so weak without their leader? Maybe you just forgot your wands," Harry taunted, continually grasping at straws. If he could delay them a bit longer someone would surely find him. His friends must be looking for him by now. He only hoped he didn't sound as desperate as he felt.

Avery held up his hand. "Just a moment, Macnair," he said. "An intelligent question deserves an answer. Your magic is a bit strong, dear boy. It tends to block other magic. You wouldn't want us to end up like the poor Malfoys, would you? Your magic doesn't shield you from physical attacks, as Macnair will now demonstrate."

Harry watched Macnair, who had been examining the edge of his blade, step forward, and raise his axe high. He feared he was moving in for the kill, so he tried to get up, but found he was too weak from injury and blood loss to stand. He could only manage a scrambling crawl. One of them grabbed Harry's right leg and he let out a terrified yell. "No!"

Laughing, Nott dragged him back toward Macnair on his stomach. "Show a little dignity, Potter." he taunted.

There was a swish as the razor sharp axe cut through the air, hitting the ground with a sickening thump. Harry was surprised his leg didn't seem to hurt as bad as he feared. His entire body had gone strangely numb, and he seemed to be looking at everything from far away. Even sound seemed to be muffled, except for the sound of his heart, which drummed intolerably loudly in his ears.

Nott whooped triumphantly, tossing the leg he had been pulling, so that it arched almost gracefully until it hit off a dumpster with a loud clang.

Harry just laid there, sure that he would be dead soon. He just wished they would get things over with now. He wanted to rest. He wanted peace. But something in him simply would not let go.

Someone kicked him over, and Harry found himself looking up Avery.

"Stay with us just a bit longer Potter," he said, "You'll want to see how this ends."

"Don't you ever shut up? You must love to hear yourself talk," the words coming from Harry's mouth, but it didn't seem to be him saying them.

"Nott, grab his left arm," Avery said and brought over a strange weapon. It had a thick handle a little over a foot long with a heavy, curved blade. "A Japanese Sickle, Potter. Nott found this little beauty in a muggle martial arts store. Your little show in September made Nott's boy curious about martial arts, as we all are."

"No, NO, **NO**!" Harry struggled as Nott grabbed his arm.

Nott's laughter rang in Harry's ears as he twisted and tried to pull free of the deatheater's grip, but all it did was sap the last of his fading strength. He pulled free finally and held his undamaged arm protectively to his chest, but Nott grabbed his hand again and pulled, placing a foot on him to hold him still. He hoped that Avery would deliver a fatal blow, but knew better." NO, No, oh god no, not this, please no." Harry sobbed, his voice trailing off weakly.

Nott held Harry's arm straight up.

"Begging for mercy? I thought you understood that was pointless with us. Perhaps you were begging for death? Well, not yet, not quite yet." Avery chuckled softly and swung the blade. It sliced smoothly through flesh and bone.

Harry looked away as Nott tossed the arm next to the severed leg. Why couldn't he die? Why was his body so desperately clinging to life? He knew he would die, though. Soon, he hoped. Soon. He felt his blood leaving his body at a snail's pace, bringing with it a seeping cold. Death would bring peace, hopefully. Peace, with his parents. He watched as the deatheater pulled something from his pocket.

"Do you know what this is?" the deatheater said. "It's a muggle grenade, specially made with what the muggles call, high explosive. It's gonna end your miserable little life."

Harry closed his eyes, grateful that the pain would go away, finally. After years, all the pain would go away. Time seemed to slow down for Harry, as he opened his eyes and watched Avery pull the pin from the grenade. Then, in a long moment, he heard what sounded like three gunshots ring out, breaking the funerary silence. All around him, the deatheaters crumpled and fell to the ground. The grenade fell from Avery's hand and rolled across the ground, coming to rest against Harry's remaining left foot. It was then that he saw a tall blur with a trailing silver beard rushing toward him.

It was too late, he thought. What could Dumbledore do now? The old man was just too late, like always. He watched as Dumbledore threw himself on the grenade. His mind was a bit numb, but he saw the explosion. At first it was contained withing a growing, domed shield that raised Dumbledore into the air. The bright flash was followed quickly by a loud noise. His ears hurt. He watched the smoke and fire filled shield expand, bursting at the top, acting like a chimney. He couldn't see Dumbledore anymore as the flames engulfed the old man. The shield dissipated quickly, ash blown about in the remaining breeze.

His ears were ringing, and he felt nothing. His left foot was beyond shredded, he knew that without looking.. Dumbledore was gone. He also knew that. He was still there, alive. He knew that too. Damn him, he thought. He should have let him die. A few tears rolled down his face as the numbness slowly spread from his body to his mind.

Time sped back up as he heard a voice filter through the ringing. "Oh, god. Hang on there son, the ambulance is on it's way," the voice said.

The ringing in his ears was slowly fading and he heard the sound of sirens coming closer. Harry looked up at the man speaking to him.

"Minerva," Harry managed to whisper. "I need...where's my Aunt Minerva?"

There was a gasp, then shoes pounding rapidly across the pavement.

"Harry, oh Harry, I'm here," Minerva said. "Oh Merlin, what happened?"

"Aunt Minerva?" Harry said. "Tell Sirius I love him."

"Don't you dare," she said and blinked back tears. "You hang on. Poppy will be able to help. You'll see, that woman is a miracle worker, just stay with us."

Harry saw paramedics jump out of the ambulance and rush toward him. He saw one of them take one look at him and vomit while the other brought over his equipment holding his resolve, stiffly.

"Let's get some ice and pack those limbs, this just happened, there's still a chance for them," the man told the paramedics, "This is his Aunt, she'll ride with you."

Harry remembered something else had just happened. "...Dumbledore." He shouted louder then he thought he could.

"What is it Harry?" Minerva hovered as the paramedic bound his wounds.

He glanced toward the pile of ash and rubble and muttered, "he saved me from a grenade."

Minerva glanced over at the pile of ash, and let out a sad sigh. She hurried over and Harry thought he saw her scoop something up from what was left of Dumbledore and put it in her handbag, but his vision was swimming again and he couldn't be sure.

"Start an IV and call for an authorization for blood, poor kid's lost a lot of it," a voice said then he felt gentle hands shift him to a stretcher.

He felt someone cover him with a warm blanket and strap him down.

"He's finally stable enough to move. Let's get him in the ambulance."

He felt himself lifted, and rolled to the ambulance, wondering all the while when he would finally die. He certainly didn't want to live like this. Maimed like this.

Minerva sat next to him, clutching her handbag strap and wishing there was a hand she could hold and comfort.

Harry, exhausted, looked up at the woman. "Aunt Minerva?" Harry said again. "Tell Sirius I love him."

Harry then closed his good eye to the screams of McGonagall telling him to hang on. He was tired and didn't feel like it. The pain was gone though. Either it was drugs or he was dead already. Either way it was feeling too good to stay awake, so he let the darkness take him.

Harry found himself floating in a sea of darkness. Slowly, painfully, he drifted toward consciousness. He hurt all over. Harry figured he couldn't be dead, being dead wasn't supposed to hurt.He didn't want to be alive, though. Not like that. He could feel that his left eye was still swollen shut. A wave of nausea overcame him, and he leaned over the bed and wretched.

"It's okay, deary," a woman's voice said as she wiped his face with a cool, wet cloth.

Harry didn't say anything, but just settled back into the bed. He glanced around in the darkness with his good eye. It appeared to be a muggle hospital, and there was a nurse standing by his bed. He looked up at her and she nodded.

"You've been through a lot, but you're okay now," she said. "I'm Nurse Betty. You call me if you need anything, alright hon?"

"But..." Harry started but his throat hurt.

"Shh," she said. "You're our miracle boy, the way you survived. You're okay now, just rest."

Harry nodded, but that hurt too. Then he looked down at himself. Bandages everywhere. He brought his arms up to rub his eyes, and realised he had two arms. They looked like giant cotton swabs, except for the finger tips poking out from the white gauze. He looked down at the sheet covering his lower half, and saw a tent where his right leg should be. He wiggled his toes, and got two rewards for the effort. One, he saw the sheet move, and two, he felt extreme pain. He cried out, and tears started forming on his face. Both from the pain and the sight of only one tent at the bottom of his bed.

"Harry? You're awake? Here, take this potion," a new and familiar voice said.

"Madame Pomfrey," Harry stated as he turned his head to her.

"Shh," she said and helped him sit up to take the potion.

He immediately felt better, and his throat didn't burn so much. "What," was all he could sputter out before his anguish silenced him.

"You're nearly one hundred percent, Harry," she said. "The surgeon is a squib, my cousin, and we used muggle and magical techniques to put you back together."

"Where's Sirius? Where's my dad?" Harry managed to ask and the healer smiled.

"He's in the next room. They had to sedate him, he was going crazy over what happened to you. When he wakes up we'll tell him you're okay."

"Ron? Hermione and Neville?" he asked.

"They're at their own homes, waiting for word. The school term is over now, by two days. Would you like them to visit?"

Harry thought for a minute, then shook his head. "I...I don't want them to see me like this. I want to be alone."

"It's alright, Harry. I'll let them know. You just rest now, okay?"

Harry nodded and settled back into the bed. He nodded off, but not before the fear and memory of what happened came back to him. He curled into a ball as much as the bandages and his pain would allow before finally going to sleep.

Harry woke again and noticed a lot fewer bandages than before, and he could open both eyes now. He stayed quiet as he heard voices from the hall.

"I wish you would have left one for me to kill," Sirius said. "But I'm glad you were there, Jack."

"Yeah, you wizards may have magic, but a .32 between the eyes will still take you out." Jack said. "Good thing I'm a good shot, had all three of 'em down in two seconds flat. But I do wish I would have got there sooner."

Harry recognized Jack's voice as the man who called the ambulance.

"It's okay, Jack," Sirius said. "You saved his life, acting as quickly as you did."

"The real miracle was Dr. McFadden. Combining Poppy's magic with her micro-surgical techniques really did the trick," Jack replied.

"Speak of the devil," Sirius said. "How are you doing this morning, Dr. McFadden?"

"I'm good. How's our patient?" she asked.

"He's sleeping," Sirius said and turned to look at Harry from the doorway and noticed he was awake.

Harry looked at him, and suddenly needed him at that moment. He held his arms up and called out, "Daddy."

Sirius rushed into the room and gently hugged Harry to him. "How are you feeling, Harry?"

"It still hurts," Harry said, reveling at being held and cared for. Harry held the hug for a long time, feeling he more than deserved it.

"How are you, Harry?" Dr. McFadden asked and Harry just turned away from her.

"This is going to be beyond difficult," Poppy said from the doorway.

"I've called for a psychologist," Dr. McFadden said. "She should be here soon. She knows about magic," she added seeing the look Poppy gave her.

"I still can't believe it's THE Harry Potter," the officer said.

"Jack, he's just Harry," Sirius said and Harry smiled a little.

Harry didn't turn to face any of them as they talked. He figured the man, Jack, must be a squib too. He also felt he had a right to sulk and brood after what happened. He closed his eyes so he could relax, and not deal with people anymore.

Sirius got up and went over to the two healers. "How soon do you think Harry will be his old self again?" he asked quietly, hoping to not disturb Harry. "We were making such good progress, and then this had to happen. He didn't laugh enough before as it is. I already miss that laugh."

Just then another doctor joined them.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Murphy, the psychologist," she said. "I have to admit, I don't know if I can handle this case. An attack like that is just...it's beyond me."

Harry felt all of the eyes on his back, but didn't turn around or move. He tried not to wallow in self pity, but wanted it for now, needed it. If he got well, then he might get hurt again.

"But Harry needs help," Sirius pleaded.

Harry hurt as he listened to the tone of Sirius' voice. He wanted to get better for him as much as himself. It was just so hard to do. He finally fell asleep again, when the mental pain became too much.

When Harry woke this time, he was sure it had been another whole day, maybe more. Sunlight streamed into the room, making everything seem okay for the moment. He was definitely getting annoyed at sleeping so much. Despite the flashes of painful memory, Harry felt a lot better and was ready to go home. He slipped the sheet off and grimaced as he looked at the stump of his left leg, ending just above the ankle. Then he remembered Dumbledore had died saving him, and felt sad about it for several minutes.

Finally he relaxed again and felt a little determination creep into his soul. He looked to the open door and saw a maintenance cart just outside. With a little focus, he managed to summon a role of duct tape without his wand, which he figured was probably still back at school. Next to his bed he saw a wooden chair that would be perfect, he thought. He leaned over and grabbed it, pulling it up on the bed. He grabbed one of the legs, and tried with all of his might to break it off. He heard it crack as he pulled and twisted, then he felt a magical surge and it finally broke free of the chair.

Harry relaxed back into the bed, dropping the rest of the chair to the floor with a thunk. This was harder than he thought it would be. He sighed, then grabbed the leg and duct tape, and proceeded to tape the wood to the front of his leg, using his right leg as a guide for the length. He wrapped it tight, hoping it would hold.

He took a deep breath and swung himself over the edge of the bed. He then realised he need to pee really bad, so he jumped down quickly, nearly losing his balance. The makeshift prosthetic was not very stable.

"Oh bloody hell," Harry said as he realised they had put him in a damn nappy. "I'm not using this," he told himself and started to hobble across the floor.

He would prove to Sirius that he was okay. He could do things on his own. He would get through this. Then the strip of wood shifted underneath the tape, and he fell.

"Harry?" Sirius called out, as he entered just in time to see him fall, but not enough to catch him. "Are you alright? I'm glad to see you're trying some, you remind me of James, but you gotta be careful. Let me help, okay?"

Harry smiled and nodded. One good try was enough for now he thought, as his resolve weakened, and help from Sirius was very welcome. He was also relieved to notice that the fall didn't make him lose control of his bladder, nappy or not.

Sirius helped him into the bathroom, and helped him to clean up, as well as relieve himself on the toilet.

"I've got some clothes for you," Sirius said. "Your magic has helped to speed up the healing really fast, and they said you could probably go home today."

Harry nodded his thanks and relief but said nothing. Talking seemed too much effort to Harry right now. He still had the memory flashes, and it was all he could do not to just crawl back in bed and give up.

"Hello, Harry," Minerva said when Sirius carried Harry back to his bed. "Did you find the book, Sirius?"

"Yeah, I've got it right here," Sirius said and turned to Harry after giving the book to McGonagall. "Harry, in my family library there was a transfiguration book that has a spell to give you an artificial foot."

Harry looked up, hope crossing his face at the thought of something more than just a muggle plastic thing.

"Okay, Harry," Sirius continued. "It's not illegal magic, but for some reason, it's almost considered dark magic. I never figured that out, but Minerva has to do it. She's an expert at transfiguration. Now, you can choose what material it's to be made of. Gold, silver, emerald, ruby, diamond, though I would suggest against using wood, you might get termites."

Before Harry could stop himself, he giggled at Sirius' remark. Sirius smiled at the sound, it made him happy to hear that. It even made Harry a little happy to hear himself too. But that happiness was short lived, and Harry sighed and looked down.

"Which would you like?" Sirius asked and Harry just shrugged. "How about diamond? Hardest substance known to muggles."

Harry shrugged again and then nodded.

McGonagall finished reading the instructions on how to do the spell and sighed. "This is almost as difficult as the animagus transformation, but I think I should be able to do it correctly."

Sirius sighed nervously and Harry watched with trepidation. With a wave of her wand, the duct tape and chair leg were gone, and the bandage wrapping his stump vanished. Jack and Dr. McFadden walked in at that moment, but stayed silent as they waited. Harry grabbed Sirius' hand and squeezed as McGonagall began the incantation. A clear molten mass emerged from her wand and formed into a left foot. It hovered slowly, then lowered and attached itself securely to Harry's leg.

Harry gasped at the sensation, then wiggled his new toes. "It's a little tingly," Harry said, the first words he had spoken in a while.

"You won't have as much sensation as normal, but you should be able to get by," McGonagall said.

"That's amazing," Dr. McFadden said. "We could help so many with that spell."

"I'm sorry, but it doesn't work on muggles," McGonagall said. "Only people with magical cores. It may work on squibs, but I don't really know."

"Do you want to try walking on it?" Sirius asked and Harry shook his head. "Is Harry well enough to leave?" Sirius turned to the two healers.

"Physically, I would say yes," McFadden said and Poppy agreed.

"Are you ready to go, Harry?" Sirius asked and Harry gave a little nod of his head.

Everyone left and Sirius went to the bathroom so Harry could get dressed. When he came back out, Harry was still just sitting there, staring at the clothes Sirius had brought. Sirius didn't know what to think. Dressing a nearly twelve year old wasn't something he thought he would have to do. Of course, neither was raising his best friend's son.

Harry did little to help as Sirius got him into his underwear, jeans, and t-shirt, discarding the hospital gown.

"Is that too tight?" he asked after he had tied Harry's shoes.

Harry just shrugged his shoulders and whispered, "I can't feel too much on that foot."

"Does it feel like the shoe might fall off?" he asked and Harry shrugged his shoulders again.

"Alright then, let's go," he said and Harry just looked up at him sadly. "Please? At least try to walk on it."

Harry had tried once today, and failed. He couldn't shake the depressing feeling of, why bother? Still, he would try again for Sirius. He slid forward off the bed and gently put his feet on the floor. The diamond foot felt even weirder when he put a little weight on it. He let Sirius take his hands and pull him slowly into a standing position. He just stared at his feet, afraid to take that first step.

"Please?" Sirius said again and Harry moved.

First the artificial, and then the real, Harry went. He let go of Sirius, to go it alone. He wobbled after three steps and fell into Sirius' arms. He had made an effort again and failed, and that was enough for him. All of his determination had left him, and he refused to be put back on his feet.

Sirius didn't know really how to deal with Harry's broken spirit. Finally he just picked him up and carried him. When he tried to set him in the wheelchair the nurse offered, Harry wouldn't let go, so he just carried him to a large, black car provided by the ministry for the boy-who-lived-again.

Draco was already there, waiting, and just stared silently as Sirius set Harry down and climbed in after him. "Er, how are you?" he finally asked, breaking the silence a few minutes after the car had started to move.

Harry said nothing and just scooted closer to Sirius, resting his head on his shoulder. _Why can't I just talk to them?_ Harry thought and closed his eyes. He was hurting in ways he didn't understand, and decided sleep was the easiest for now. No bad dreams as long as Sirius was there.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do, cousin," Sirius said thoughtfully. "Those damn deatheaters broke him more than just physically."

"I'll get through to him, Sirius," Draco said. "He wasn't put in Slytherin for nothing. I think it will take both of us, though," he added as he watched Harry snuggle even closer to Sirius in his sleep.

"I did get him to take a few steps on his new foot, but he only tried it once," Sirius said sadly. "When I first got there, though, he had broken off a piece of a chair leg, and taped it to his stump to get to the bathroom."

"There you go, cousin," Draco smirked. "Slytherin with a hint of Gryffindor. He'll get through this."

Sirius smiled at the remark and sighed. "I hope it doesn't take too long. His cousin Dudley is a bit of a bully, and would smell the weakness right now."

"Yeah, about that. Do we have to go live in that muggle hovel?"

"It won't be that bad, Draco," Sirius chuckled.

"Sirius, it was a big change going from Malfoy Manor to that little house of yours for just that week. You said that this place is even smaller."

"Er, okay. Think of it as an adventure," Sirius tried, but Draco just scowled. "Alright, we'll get the house elves to make a few magical changes. Nothing extravagant though."

"Fine. But why can't we go to either the Black or Malfoy houses. They're plenty safe."

"Not as safe as the blood protection supplied by Harry's Aunt Petunia. It was Dumbledore's greatest achievement and greatest failure, placing Harry there."

Harry woke up then and stretched. He felt better than before. Enough to get past his own barriers a little and chat. "So, where are we going?" he said quietly, looking around at the car.

"To your Aunt's house," Sirius said, glad that Harry was talking again.

Harry sighed and looked down. "They don't want me."

"That's not the issue Harry. Both Draco and I will be there too. It's only for the blood protection. Neither deatheaters nor Voldemort himself can get you there."

Harry relaxed again. "I hope Dudley is still a little nice to me, but he probably won't be. Especially with me limping and falling everywhere I go."

"You'll get the hang of it, Harry," Draco offered and then held up a cane with a silver serpent hand grip. "Especially with this. I helped Sirius pick it out for you."

Harry slowly took it and ran his fingers gently over the polished silver. "It's beautiful. Thanks. I don't think I could get through this without you guys."

"Not a problem, Harry," Sirius smiled and Draco nodded.

They pulled up to Number 4, Privet Drive and stopped. They stared out of the window of the car and sighed.

"You've got to be kidding," Draco said as he stared at the house and neighborhood.

"I grew up here and didn't even get enjoy what little there is," Harry replied.

"I'd rather live in the shrieking shack," Draco made a hacking gag sound, getting a chuckle out of Harry and Sirius.

They got out of the car and started toward the house, Harry managing pretty well with the cane and leaning on Sirius. Fierce determination returned to Harry though, the closer they got, and his confidence built slightly. He let go of Sirius, and made it up the walk on just the cane, knowing that whatever happened this summer, he would meet it head on.

**A/N: _This completes year one of this story, year two shall begin shortly, I hope, with many ideas planned. Please review._**


	21. Fecal Matter Strikes Wind Device

_**AN:** Er, sorry? Real life got in the way, well, that, and reading lots of other fics too. This has been sitting around for a while, and I'm still not happy with it, but I think it's as good as it's gonna get by me. I'm changing it back to just one fic for all seven years. It's easier that way. _

"**Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"**

**Chapter 21, "The Fecal Matter Strikes The Wind Generating Device"**

The three wizards entered the house at Number 4, Privet Drive slowly. Harry was a little unsure of himself but maintained his composure as his blood relatives came into the hall from the kitchen.

"Harry, you and Draco go up to the room and direct the house elves with your trunks and things. Remember what I said before, as well," Sirius said sternly and then turned to the Dursleys after watching Harry carefully make his way up the steps, Draco being watchful in case he stumbled.

"Just what's this all about?" Petunia asked with a frown. "The letter we received, strangely signed by both Ministers, was less than vague. It only mentioned necessary changes for security reasons. And why is Harry limping and using a cane?"

Sirius glanced at the youngest Dursley. "Dudley should go to his room as well. This conversation is for adults."

Vernon Dursley became visibly incensed at this stranger, this _wizard_ stranger, telling his family what to do, but an angry glare from his wife silenced him. He reluctantly nodded to Dudley, who appeared to feel the same way as he slowly inched his round bottom up the stairs.

Sirius motioned them back into the kitchen, keeping his anger at their treatment of Harry reigned in. "My name is Sirius Black," he began coldly, "and I was friends with James and Lily, in fact, James was more than a brother to me. I am also Harry's godfather."

"So why didn't you take him?" Vernon said boldly.

"Shut it," Sirius growled and pulled his wand. Vernon backed down immediately.

"The blood protection?" Lily offered and Sirius nodded. "Who is that other boy?"

"That's my cousin, Draco Malfoy." Sirius gave Vernon a look before continuing, laying it out and watching for reactions. "You know of the deatheaters? They were the followers of Voldemort, the bastard who was the reason my best friends were killed and Harry was put with you."

Petunia kept her face emotionless with effort while Vernon began chewing on his mustache.

"Two deatheaters, Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black Malfoy, Draco's parents, attempted to kill Harry," Sirius said, not glossing over anything, still keeping an eye on Petunia, whom he could see was straining to stay emotionless. "As the last heir of the Blacks, he became my responsibility. I'm actually glad, as Harry has been a good influence on a boy who was starting to be an arrogant prick like his father, much like what Dudley is."

"Now listen here," Vernon said and started to get up, but Sirius put a silencing spell on him, along with a sticking spell to keep him rooted to his seat.

"You'll be quiet, Dursley, and you're not going anywhere," Sirius said and noticed just the smallest of smiles trying to form on Petunia's lips. "As for the limping..."

HPHPHP

"You live here?" Draco said in disgust looking around at the tiny room. "Wait," he added and looked over his shoulder at the stairs, remembering something.

"What?" Harry asked as he settled on his small, lumpy, bed.

"Never mind," he said, steeling his emotions and turning back. "So how should we do this?" he said as Pip and Dobby popped in.

"I don't care," Harry said as he yawned and laid back. "I'm gonna take a nap. Do whatever you want, just don't make dad mad."

"Fine," Draco said as he watched Harry fall to sleep almost instantly. "Dobby, Pip, make this room big and comfortable. Not too elegant, that's the one thing I hated about Malfoy Manor. Don't get this dirty, don't mess that up. I guess we can do the bunk bed thing again, but make it different than the place back in Hogsmeade. I suppose Sirius is staying in here too, so, I guess you should put a bed in the corner for him. Oh, and add another bathroom. I'm not gonna keep going after muggles. Which I have to now, and I'll leave you to it, just don't wake Harry."

The little elves nodded ecstatically, and Draco slipped out to goto the bathroom. After finishing his business, he listened at Dudley's door, and could hear some faint, weird sounding music. "Muggles," he muttered to himself and crept down the stairs after casting a silencing charm on his shoes. He went over to the little cupboard and peeked in with revulsion at where Harry had lived most of his life. "Correction: worthless, waste of space, muggles," he murmured and moved over the kitchen door and listened.

His curiosity getting the better of him, he cast a spell his father taught him so he could see through a muggle's eyes. It wouldn't work on a wizard, but a muggle wouldn't even notice the slight mental intrusion, especially the likes of Vernon Dursley.

HPHPHP

"As for the limping..." Sirius trailed off as he pulled an eight by ten envelope out of his magically expanded jean pocket. He took a deep breath in an attempt to hold his own emotion, and unsteadily pulled out it's contents and threw it on the kitchen table. It's multiple items spread out revealing the horror within to the two elder Dursleys sitting at the table. And the young, blond wizard in the hall.

Photos. Several dozen photos, in fact. Photos of Harry. Various photos of his injuries. Wizard photos. Moving. Barely moving in Harry's case, nearly three dimensional in their likeness. More real than muggle photos.

Both Petunia and Vernon gasped and started to lose their lunch.

"Harry and three of his friends were out with Dumbledore and McGonagall in muggle London," Sirius continued, looking away from the photos. "Three deatheaters drew him out by himself, and attacked with muggle weapons so nobody would detect it, and Harry wouldn't magically defend himself. A man managed to kill them, but not before this was done."

Petunia and Vernon were both pale and sick, which made Sirius happy. He then slipped four photos away from the rest and spaced them out on the table. The Dursleys blanched a bit at these, which were clearly a different time frame, an earlier time frame.

"YOU, were responsible for what's in these particular photos," Sirius said with a strained voice, venom dripping from every syllable; failing in his poor attempt to bite back his emotion. "And you might wanna know, a committee has been formed to decide a wizard punishment."

"What?" Petunia questioned while Vernon struggled against the muting spell.

Sirius took a calming breath as he thought how screwed up it all was. His own imprisonment, the lack of timely punishment for the Dursleys, the whole situation. Finally, he continued.

"Harry has unwanted fame and respect in the wizarding world, and the blood protection is necessary, otherwise you both would be hauled off to prison and your brat would be put in a home."

"But Dumbledore wouldn't do that, he...he..." she stuttered.

"Dumbledore's dead," Sirius spat. "He threw himself on a grenade to save Harry, and, before that, he was stripped of his order of Merlin award for placing Harry with you and not checking on his well being."

HPHPHP

Draco Malfoy vomited in the hall and canceled the mind intrusion spell. He hadn't been told the details of what had happened, only that Harry had been seriously hurt by deatheaters. Now he knew the puzzle that was Harry James Potter. The boy-who-lived. The boy who was forced to grow up unwanted and unloved, with an unknown and undesired fame waiting for him when he was rescued by the groundskeeper.

The small boy Draco had met nearly a year ago was nothing like any of the stories fabricated and spread about in the wizarding world. Draco found himself respecting Harry more than he thought possible. So much he had been through, and he still kept going. Like a Slytherin. Also like a Gryffindor. Really like all four houses.

Draco promised himself to definitely help Harry. Support him, stand up for him when needed, and be there. Like...an older brother. Yes, he realised, in this new little family, a family he never thought he would be glad to be in, he held that distinction, even if he was only a few months older. He also smiled at the thought of what Harry was going to do to all of the remaining deatheaters. Even Voldemort himself. He could hardly wait to see what Harry did once he was recovered fully.

He quickly spelled away his mess and headed back to their room. Inside, Harry was still asleep with an odd look on his face. One that hadn't been seen in a while. The slowly forming look of determination. Draco smiled to himself as he climbed into the lower bunk for a nap. He absolutely wanted to be rested so he didn't miss anything that might, or probably would happen, with Harry James Potter, the boy who lived again.

HPHPHP

"Dumbledore's dead?" Petunia exclaimed as she stood up. "Saving Harry from a grenade?" She slowly went to the sink and got a glass of water with shaky hands, trying to come to grips with everything.

Vernon began squirming around, wanting to say something. Finally Sirius released the spells and he jumped up.

"Get out, then," he spat. "My wife's promise was to him. I want you all out of my house."

Petunia, who had been staring at the sink, looked up with a scowl. "They will stay, Vernon," she said with a bit of disgust. "I made the promise to my sister, and to my nephew. I've had a lot to think about over the last year, and I realise how wrong I've been. I know that were the situation reversed, Dudley would have been well looked after."

"It's about time you did right by that boy," came a shrill but stern voice from the doorway making them all jump. "I'm Molly Weasley, and this is my husband, Arthur."

"Get out now!" Vernon said and Sirius put the silencing and sticking charm back on him.

"Sorry for barging in, _sir_," Arthur said with a frown, forcing himself to ignore his fascination at the muggle surroundings. "We are the official appointees for the committee to decide your punishment."

"A decision has been made then?" Sirius asked with a bit of hope in his voice.

"Yes, indeed," Molly said.

"We, well at least I, intend to fully cooperate," Petunia said and gave a moments glare at her husband.

Molly glanced at the kitchen table, and had to close her eyes quickly while Sirius gathered the photos together and put them away, except for the ones that were caused by the Dursleys. She then steeled herself and spoke as Arthur put his arm around her in support.

"We don't know Harry that well, other than what our boys have told us, but we do know that we would care for him as our own. No offense, Mr. Black," Molly continued, "but I personally still have my reserves about you being his guardian. I really have my doubts about you being able to raise him proper. What with your past, your family's past, not to mention Harry being in Slytherin along with some of the things he's done. I'm afraid for that boy and what else he may do or become."

"Molly, I completely understand, but Azkaban gave me time to think. And mature, at least a little, hopefully. My focus right now, is Harry. Don't take this the wrong way, please, but no matter your reserves, we need each other. I know I'm the only adult he really trusts. He is my son, and I am his dad, and I won't dishonor my best friend's memory and the trust in me he had," Sirius said thoughtfully. "And as for the Slytherin part, I see it as, Slytherin is a part of Hogwarts. A part that isn't respected anymore, and I'm more inclined to believe Harry would change that rather than become another dark wizard."

"That's what Poppy told me at the last meeting, so I'll try and accept it, but back to the point. The decision is that Petunia and Vernon Dursley shall perform house elf duties for two years at the ministry and St. Mungos," Molly then smiled a slightly evil smile. "That means cleaning, without magic obviously, toilets and such."

Vernon actually broke through the spell at this outrage. "I will not," he screamed then cowered when he had three wands pointed at him. "But, my...my job. You want a roof over the fr...the boys head, I have to keep my job."

"That's been worked out with your employer," Arthur said smugly. "You see, there are some prominent wizards that have a monetary investment in Grunnings. In most of the muggle world, in fact."

Vernon nearly fainted, so it was a good thing he was already sitting down.

"You will have three afternoons off every week," Arthur continued with a satisfied smile, "at which time you will perform various duties for eight hours. You will also work both Saturday and Sunday for ten hours each day. Petunia will put in ten hours every day."

Petunia wanted so much to protest, but a glance at the photos, and remembering her sister's eye's staring at her from Harry's face, she knew she failed completely when Harry needed a family.

Vernon however didn't really know what to do. Prison would be better than working so much for the next two years, especially as a cleaning servant...for freaks. He couldn't see a way out of it. These freaks would force him if he refused. All he did was try and beat the freakishness out of the boy. He would not let them win, though. Fear ruled him last summer, but no more. He would take this, and put up with it, for a time. Meanwhile, he would consider divorce. Get away from this unnaturalness once and for all in two years. Even find a job not run by freaks. He should have known, really.

Two more years, and he would be done with them. All of them. Even his own freaky son. No magic ability to be seen, but he had got his own freaky letter Vernon had found out. Yep, two more years and that was it.

"Fine," Vernon spat, failing to hide his hope for the future which Petunia saw and instinctively knew what it meant. "I'll do your obscenity, then that's it, freaks."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Sirius too, were all a little suspicious of Vernon, but let it go as he was seemingly cooperating. The Weasleys informed them that a house elf would collect the two at appropriate times, and then return them home when they finished their shift. They were also informed that they would begin the next day.

After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, and a constant glare from Vernon toward Sirius, Sirius reluctantly released the sticking spell.

"I'm going to the pub," Vernon said in a huff as he walked out, followed by the Weasleys and Sirius.

Sirius watched as Vernon pushed a confused Dudley, who had just came down the stairs, out of the way. The eldest Dursley just harrumphed at the little blue Ford Anglia Molly got into before getting into his own car and driving off. Arthur sighed and Sirius looked at him.

"How is he doing?" Arthur asked quietly. "Molly wanted to mother him, but I managed to convince her to let me talk to you instead."

The two men glanced at the expectant face of the Weasley matriarch as she watched from the car.

"He's doing better, but it was a rough start," Sirius said sadly. "I'm hoping he'll be ready to see Ron, Hermione, and Neville soon."

"It's okay," Arthur said. "Ron understands completely, even though he really wants to see Harry."

"I think Harry will be back to himself pretty soon. They almost broke him, but he still survived."

"I'm sure he'll be alright, Sirius. We gotta go now, owl me those telephone numbers to here and then we can get the boys together as soon as Harry is up to it."

"Okay, Arthur. I'll see you," Sirius smiled and waved as the Weasleys drove away.

He felt a tremor run through him as he turned to go back inside. He quietly slipped a potion from his pocket and took a sip. St. Mungo's had done wonders with him regarding his stay in Azkaban, but he still needed this potion every now and then. He hoped he would be free of it soon as he sighed and turned to head in.

Dudley stood at the door and watched as his father drove off. He had overheard what his father had said, and like his mother, knew what it meant. He wasn't exactly sure how he felt about anything, only that he didn't like it. He raided the refrigerator and went back to his room to sulk, or think.

HPHPHP

Harry yawned and opened his eyes. He sat up and stretched, feeling remarkably refreshed. He smiled, somehow knowing that Pip or Dobby had got him ready for bed, as he had gone to sleep in his clothes.

He glanced around, taking in the new room quickly. About five times bigger than before, with a bathroom off to one side, and done tastefully in an odd mixture of all Hogwarts house colors that actually looked good.

In front of an open window sat two large owl cages. In one sat Kleo, Harry's black and white owl, and in the other sat an eagle owl, apparently Draco's. Under the table the cages sat on, was a fish tank set up for Archimedes, Harry's pet grass snake.

There was a bed in the corner for Sirius, and he sat in a top bunk next to another window. The bottom bunk was at a right angle to the top, next to an extra easy looking ladder. Draco lay in the bunk asleep, wearing a Slytherin smirk on his face.

Harry shook his head in wonder about his blond dormmate, then he smiled as Sirius came in to check on him. "Hey, dad. Whad'ya think of the room? I like it."

Sirius looked around and nodded. "Pretty nice," he said and went over to look at Harry's owl, who quickly took flight out the window. Sirius shrugged and turned to Harry. "How about you? How are you feeling?"

"Better, though my foot still feels weird," Harry said thoughtfully. "Sorry I was so out of it earlier. What happened really sucks."

"It'll get better," Sirius said and lay down on his own bed. "Pretty comfortable."

"Yeah," Harry replied and carefully climbed down from his bunk. He stared at the minute scars on his arm and leg and ran a finger along them. "I...I thought I was gonna be maimed for life. I...I remember wanting to die." Harry looked up at Sirius.

Sirius motioned for Harry to come sit next to him. With a reassuring hug, Sirius said, "I'm glad you didn't. I like having you around."

Harry smiled and hugged back, reveling in having a real parent who cared. "I like having you around, too," he said quietly and stood up. "Okay, we need to get Draco a bike so we can go riding like normal kids."

"I'm not getting on any muggle contraption," Draco said from his bed.

"What's the matter, Malfoy?" Harry smirked. "Afraid to show that you can't ride something as simple as a bicycle?"

"Fine, but it better be fun," Draco replied with his own smirk.

Harry got dressed then in jean shorts and a tee shirt, being careful that his sock covered the prosthetic foot. He strapped on his wand holster and wand, afraid of going without it ever again. Pip made it invisible to everyone but the wearer, the wand only visible when drawn. Draco insisted on one of his own, so they had to wait a bit for Pip to do his work.

Harry lent Draco some muggle clothes until they could get him some of his own. Then the three headed out on Sirius' motorbike, stopping first for a side car to make the ride more comfortable. After helping Draco to choose some regular muggle style clothes, which he actually found he liked better than robes and the fancy clothes he was made to wear before, they went and got him a black bike similar to Harry's emerald green one.

With reassurances that he was okay, Harry had Pip bring him his bike and he and Draco rode off while Sirius went back home. Draco took to riding the muggle contraption easily with a pure blood smirk, and they went off to explore areas that Harry hadn't been able to before.

They went to the martial arts dojo that Harry had visited the previous summer to sign up, and after what Harry did to Nott, Draco was interested in signing up as well. After removing his cane from where he had it strapped to his bike, Harry limped into the dojo with Draco.

"Ah, young one, you look much healthier, but what has happened to your leg?" said the master that Harry had met before.

Harry blushed and asked if they could talk somewhere privately. Once they were in a private room, Harry started.

"I was hurt by some...members of a gang called the deatheaters," Harry said thoughtfully and the master nodded. "The exercises and books you recommended helped a lot though, and now my... er, my cousin Draco and I would like to sign up. I hope you can help me get my balance back with my...hurt foot."

"I think we can help, Mr. Potter. May I see your foot?" the master asked kindly.

Harry paused nervously and glanced at Draco, who just shrugged. Then Harry realised that he didn't remember telling the man his name the previous summer, and with a flick of his wrist, his wand was pointed at the master and Harry was on his feet, unsteady as he was.

"I never told you my name, sir," Harry stated plainly.

"Relax, young one," the man said calmly and disarmed Harry so quickly neither Draco nor Harry had even time to blink. "I will not hurt you," he said, though the two Slytherins were still too shocked to move.

After they regained their senses, they sat down and listened as the master explained that he knew of magic. All living things have magic inside them, even muggles, who simply have a different type. The martial arts can help muggles and squibs tap into that magic. It was an odd occurrence for a wizard to use martial arts, so the master had looked into Harry's story after his visit.

Harry went into a little more detail then about his injury, and how it had hurt him mentally. After showing the master his foot, Harry and Draco signed up for classes. Harry would be allowed to wear special socks to hide his foot from the other students.

Then they went into the practise area and Harry showed him how far he had come in the near year since then. Given Harry's limited practise time, the master was impressed at how well Harry had done. He would still be in the beginners class, though, which Draco was silently relieved to hear because he didn't want to be alone in this muggle world.

On the way home, Harry smiled thinking that yes, it was finally a home, they stopped for an ice cream. Harry breathed in the summer air with a bit of relief that he hadn't even felt after Hagrid rescued him last year. He was a regular kid, enjoying ice cream at an ice cream parlor.

The next day they rode to the park, and Draco started really learning how muggles lived. Harry challenged Draco to see who could swing the highest on the park swings, with no accidental magical cheating.

Harry, and even Draco, were actually having fun in the summer sun, enjoying the muggle pastime. They let themselves get distracted, and didn't see Dudley and his gang approach. Harry told Draco to dismount, some muggle kids would let go at the top of the swing, to see how far away they could land. Forgetting about his foot for a moment, Harry demonstrated.

Harry got really high in his arch, but when he landed his foot immediately gave way beneath him. He fell and rolled several feet, gasping for breath as the wind was knocked out of him.

Draco landed perfectly and ran to Harry as Dudley and his gang started laughing. Quickly helping him up, Draco turned around and snarled. "Couldn't lend your own cousin a hand, could you, you fat squib?"

Dudley frowned and his gang went quiet. He wasn't sure what the name meant, but he had a good guess for once. He glanced at one of his mates, Piers Polkiss, and nodded to Draco.

Draco suddenly found himself held by the slightly larger boy, and was a little shocked that he couldn't free himself from a common muggle. He found himself wishing for that martial arts training, as well as coming to the realisation of some of what Harry really went through growing up. Things he was ashamed to admit he would have done, even already had done, at school.

Harry looked up after he finally caught his breath, and realised that Dudley's gang had tripled in number since he saw them last year. It seemed that whatever the 'old' Dudley had in mind, he had drawn in his friend's other friends who were the bullying type. Relatives too, as Piers' older brother was among them, and several other people that could be siblings.

Harry wanted to panic and run at first, but a slight tingle in his scar reminded him of, not a memory exactly, almost, but more of a feeling. He would not run from Dudley and his gang this time. Nor ever again. He would not live in fear. He wiped the panic from his face and limped over to Dudley, staring him down.

"Hold him," Dudley said to another of his close mates.

Harry glared at the other boy in such a way that he immediately backed off. Turning back to his cousin, he said, "What's the matter? Afraid to have at me by yourself? You chicken?"

"I..." Dudley stammered, then grew bold and sneered. He had told his closest friends, even though they weren't sure they believed or not. "Not as long as you fight fair. No magic."

Harry looked around, and nobody seemed to show any surprise on their face about the 'm' word. "Fair? As in how it took you and your friends to pick on me and any other kid at school?" Then Harry turned a little sad as he continued. "What happened to last summer anyway? Not that I really expected you to remain friendly."

"Seeing as my best mates know already, I'll tell you," Dudley said, stepping closer and looking down at Harry, who was still a few inches shorter. "Dad is divorcing Mum. All because of you and your freakishness."

Although Harry was a bit shocked to hear this, all he did was smirk when Dudley stepped on his foot, grinding it into the dirt.

"Don't that hurt your sore foot, Potter?" Dudley said and pushed harder, twisting his foot around forcefully.

"Not really," Harry said and pushed Dudley back and kicked him in the shin with his special foot.

Dudley fell on the ground clutching his shin, trying and failing to hold back tears. "Only girls kick, Harry," he whimpered.

"Only arsehole bullies use an army to pick on one kid that never did anything to them," Harry remarked and turned to Polkiss. "Let him go, right now," Harry gritted out and thats when he noticed a small crowd had gathered, separating Dudley's gang on one side.

A crowd that contained Tina and her four friends, John, Paula, Georgianna, and Dingo. The four other people there Harry realised with a shock were her friends from school. From Hogwarts.

"Relax kid," Tina smiled at the shocked look on Harry's face. "Muggleborns visiting me, so we've got no problems with what you might accidentally do or what Dud's muggle friends might see."

Harry looked around and saw the division of groups. He with his and Dudley with his. He looked at Dudley. "Let's have this out now, Dudleykins," Harry joked. "One on one, okay? Fair, just liked you asked."

Dudley got a little nervous then, even more so when three more people showed up to join Harry, evening things out completely.

"What's going on, mate?" a red headed boy asked, making Harry jump and then blush as he went up to his three friends.

"What are you guys doing here?" Harry asked, glad to see his friends.

"Just thought we'd drop by," Hermione said, "I only live a couple of towns over, so my parents brought us to visit. Sirius said you guys were here. How are you feeling?"

"Better. Really now that you guys are here," Harry blushed. "Sorry I didn't want you to visit before, I...I..."

"Don't worry," Neville piped up, "we understand, okay? They wouldn't tell us what exactly happened, but we borrowed your cloak and found out. They had pictures, and..." Neville broke off and looked down.

"Harry," Hermione went on, a little pale at the memory of the photos, "are you really okay?"

"Yeah," Harry said, "I'm glad you guys are here. I was just about to teach my cousin a lesson for being such a bully all of my life."

"Zap 'im, mate!" Dingo offered and the four marauders grinned.

"I thought he had stopped," Ron said with a wary glance at Harry's hefty cousin.

"He, er, he believes my aunt and uncle are getting divorced, and he blames me," Harry said shyly, unsure if it was true or not.

"What an idiot," Hermione said matter of factly.

"Yeah," Harry grinned and turned to face his cousin once more.

Ron, Hermione, and Neville joined the others behind Harry, knowing he had to face this demon of his past alone. They would just make sure Dudley's gang didn't interfere.

Harry looked around at the evenly matched sides. He smiled at his friends, grateful for their support. He knew he had to do this on his own, and they would let him. He just wished he was more stable on his foot.

"Whenever you're ready, Dud," Harry said more calmly than he felt as he faced his large cousin once more.

Dudley was unsure of himself now. Before it had been so easy, playing 'Harry Hunting' and just doing it. Now, two sides of himself were at odds with each other. He honestly had fun last summer before the Aunt Marge trip. That though, was a whole other story, Dudley remembered and started getting angry.

His father and Aunt spent the entire first day together, then things were so much different after that. He was losing his dad, now. _His_ family. It was all falling apart. All because of Harry. Dudley took in a sharp breath through gritted teeth, and lunged at Harry, fists swinging.

Harry easily ducked and limped out of the way. "What'sa matter Dud? Can't do anything without one of your goons holding me down?" he taunted.

Unlike a typical schoolyard fight, the crowd in this case remained deathly quiet during this hallowed fight. Most, if not all of them knew the history between these two cousins.

Harry easily blocked another punch attempt by Dudley with his left arm. With his right, he punched Dudley right in the eye. Both of them stumbled back, stunned and in shock. Harry grabbed his wrist in pain as Dudley clutched his blackening eye. He had never hit anyone before, he realised. He was too unsure of himself and left his wrist too limber. He still couldn't believe he did it, and his disbelief cost him more than an injured wrist, as Dudley came in with another punch to Harry's eye.

Dudley's punch had much more force behind it than Harry's had, as he was used to fighting. Harry stumbled and fell, bringing his wand into his hand as he landed. The pain in his wrist throbbed, causing him to drop his wand, which landed at Dudley's feet.

The two just stared at each other, then the wand. Dudley then quickly snatched it up and pointed it at Harry. A collective gasp could be heard from the witches and wizards in the group, including Nat's four muggle friends. Dudley's group, however, just looked at him like he was out of his mind, especially since the once picked on Harry was no longer afraid and seemed to be able to hold his own.

Harry stared at him, and for a moment, a brief flash of...memory, he saw pale skin and red eyes bearing down on him. The angry eyes of Voldemort. He froze in fear, and then remembered something else. Determination. It beat the fear. He struggled with the memory, trying to get a grasp on it, but could not. He would have to try and sort it out later, realising Dudley was still standing there like an idiot.

Dudley looked down at his cousin, feeling stupider by the minute. He didn't know any magic words or anything. If it wasn't for the slight tingling he felt in his hand as he held the wand, he would have thought it was all a joke.

Finally he spoke the only word he thought might be magical. "A...abracadabra," he said with a half hearted yell.

Harry's three friends flinched, knowing how close that word sounded to the killing curse. Harry however, knew that Dudley was just grasping at straws. He carefully got to his feet and held out his hand.

"You know you can't do any real spells, Dud. Hand it over." Harry said forcefully.

Dudley looked at his four closest friends, who shrugged, even though they were starting to believe. Dudley turned back to Harry in anger and frustration. He wanted to hurt Harry, really hurt him. So he tried again, putting his hatred into it.

"Abracadabra!"

A singular, green spark erupted from the end of the wand and zoomed toward Harry. It lost momentum and sputtered out about halfway there. The wand had already bonded with Harry, and showed its anger by turning white hot and burning Dudley's hand, causing him to drop it with a loud yelp.

Harry quickly picked it up, and pointed it right back at Dudley. "You can't make a wand harm it's owner once they've bonded," Harry said confidently, though how he knew that, was a puzzle to him.

Dudley watched Harry in fear, ready to duck if necessary, when Harry got an odd look on his face. He sighed out when Harry flicked his wrist and the wand disappeared.

With speed born of exercise, Quidditch, and Harry Hunting, Harry gave Dudley the one, two combo punch to the gut and injured eye. The round boy went down fast, and Harry started kicking him with his diamond foot.

"This is for the damn Harry Hunting," Harry screamed and kicked Dudley with all of his might.

"This is for making sure nobody would be my friend," Harry said and kicked him again.

"This is for the fake crying and tantrums that got me in trouble with your bastard father," Harry sobbed and kicked him a third time.

"And this is for in general making my life a living hell!" Harry yelled and alternated between punching and kicking him.

Dudley was crying and screaming and trying to avoid being hit again and again. With a lucky grab, he pulled Harry down on top of him, where they began punching and kicking and rolling around in the dirt.

Ron, Hermione, and Neville were a bit shocked while Draco smirked with a little pride. Everyone else didn't seem to know if they should break it up or not. They all looked at each other waiting for someone else to do something, when it came to an abrupt halt.

Harry freed himself from his cousin and rolled away springing to his feet to lay in another good kick while Dudley was still on the ground. Dudley saw this and grabbed a rather large branch and swung as hard as he could at Harry's incoming leg. The resulting crack was heard by everyone, and while Harry bit back his scream, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that his leg was broken.

Harry grit his teeth as he stood there on his good leg, trying to get hold of his emotions. When Dudley finally managed to stand up, Harry glared at him menacingly, and brought out his wand, casting silently as he did so. A large sword appeared out of thin air, and hovered near Dudley's throat.

Everyone gasped while Dudley pissed himself and nearly passed out.

HPHPHP

_**AN2:** Please read and review, thanks for your patience._


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